


One Wild Ride

by WinterWriter (Bebluvsnaru)



Series: Wildstreak & Killmonger [1]
Category: Black Panther (2018), Fantastic Four, Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Tragedy, Backstory, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-14
Updated: 2018-08-30
Packaged: 2019-03-31 04:23:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 23,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13967265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bebluvsnaru/pseuds/WinterWriter
Summary: Set several years before The Black Panther Movie.  Killmonger is in Boston, Mass at MIT... this is an alternate universe (with certain events from the comic and the cinematic universes) containing MUCs who might have crossed paths.As a direct result of her father's past association with HYDRA, a terrible tragedy has ended Tamika Bowden's gymnastics career.  While her genius engineer father has been working on a solution which will more than restore Tamika's legs, she is being pursued by his new mysterious graduate student.  But are Erik Stevens's intensions all above board or is he after more than Tamika is willing to give?I own nothing... all characters are owned by Marvel. Wildstreak from Fantastic Four Comics and Killmonger from Black Panther Comics/Movie.





	1. Tamika Bowden: Yo Excuse Me Miss

Wheeling her wheelchair down the ramp of the physics building, Tamika lost her hold on the pile of books set in her lap, causing them to tumble to the ground. Under her breath, she hissed, “Shit.”

What was once done without a second thought had become a regular chess match against gravity. Even the simplest task of getting to and from her classes with several heavy textbooks was difficult at best.  And now that the books were sprawled all over the ground, she felt close to defeat.  

No.  She was going to make this work.

Out of nowhere, a tall man with short locs, which cascaded down the right side of his forehead and over wired spectacles, appeared by her side. “Here let me help you.”

He stooped to pick up the books, but defiantly, Tamika leaned forward attempting to reach them herself. “I don’t need help. I’m ok.”

The young man got to the books first, picking the texts up and handing them in her direction. “Too late. I got there first.”

”My hero.” Tamika mumbled as she rolled her eyes.

”Wha?” The stranger stared at her curiously still with the books extended.  She knew he heard her, but he smiled at her arrogantly flashing his dimples with look of intense interest in his dark brown eyes.  The kind of interest that men rarely... or perhaps never directed her way.

What was she thinking? It was probably all her imagination. She hated to admit this stranger was handsome, but he was far too good looking to be interested in her.

Tamika was so frustrated with herself that she completely missed the young man lick his bottom lip and say, “I’d do anything for you.”

Pinning her lips angrily, Tamika snatched the books from him before begrudgingly mumbling. “Thank you.”

She hated feeling like she needed help. People like this stranger never seemed to get it. They just bulldozed their way in... making her feel completely useless. She hated even more how intensely and immediately attracted she was to this stranger.

Why couldn’t everyone just mind their own damn business for once?

Still frustrated with herself, she turned to roll away, but the young man followed her, falling in step next to her. “You're Tamika Bowden, ain’t ya?”

Pushing her thick dark brown hair back from her face, she looked up at him and frowned suspiciously. “Who wants to know?”

He shifted his own books into his other hand and reached out to shake her hand. “Erik Stevens. I'm the TA for your last class. Late Transfer. Shoot, I was glad to see you as soon as I entered that room... so if you need anything, I'm glad to help.”

She also noticed him as soon as he entered the classroom earlier that day, and not just because of his stunning good looks.  But she found herself hoping he would choose to avoid her like most young men who did not want to deal with her disability. Tamika ignored his hand and continued to roll faster. “Well that’s just great.”

“Actually… I’ma huge fan of your father. Your father's Dr Dennis Bowden ain’t he?” Undeterred Erik continued to walk and talk by Tamika’s side. His endless confidence was not affected at all Tamika’s rude attempts to curve him. "What a talented engineer.  Top of his year here at MIT.  I've followed his career closely... to have someone so brilliant to look up to. Just... wow."

“If I answer your question, will you go away?” Tamika snapped.  At this moment, she had no desire to hear praise directed towards her father. And the pull of this stranger's magnetic charisma was grating on her nerves. She could feel the anger boiling in her chest.

“Woe… I’m just trying to be friendly, girl.” Erik stopped walking and held up his hand in surrender.

“Well you can stop. I don’t need anymore friends.” Tamika did not pause as she rounded the corner.

Making it to the next corner, she looked over her shoulder to make sure Erik Stevens was gone. Then she continued onto the area of the campus where her father’s lab sat.

Ever since the accident, she had been isolating herself from everyone. She felt safer there, invulnerable to anymore disappointment.

Tamika spent her entire freshman year, wheeling from class straight to her father’s lab and then home at night to study and sleep, only to wake up and head back to class.

Even in high school, she never had many friends. It was difficult to keep up close relationships while training to be an Olympic gymnast. She also had to keep her grades up to her father’s standards, which were nothing less than straight A’s. So there was no time for a social life. And the only friends she did have were all gymnasts.  Now since that part of her life was gone, she had no desire to keep contact with any of them and eventually they all gave up and stopped reaching out.

It was better this way... being alone, counting on other people could prove to be dangerous.

Tamika learned this early on... first losing her mother to cancer when she was only twelve.  And then learning who her father truly was... not Dennis Bowen the professor but the alter ego.

Her father had not lived the cleanest life. In many circles, he was still best known for his stint as a weapons designer for HYDRA though he retired and returned to his alma mater as a professor after she was born. But his prior sins continued to follow him. And his prior sins were the reason why she was now confined to this wheelchair.

She sneered slightly at the thought of her ‘accident’. Any man, who was a fan of her father, needed to be kept at arms length. She hoped to never speak to Erik Stevens again.

Riding up the elevator, she reached the floor where her father’s lab sat. She rolled down the hall and as she approached the door, she heard voices inside.

She paused. The voices sounded friendly. But the voice that answered her father sounded very familiar. Like she just heard it... not too long ago. She pushed the door open to find Erik Stevens standing inside talking with her father.

Tamika looked back and forth between them, her brown eyes growing hostile and suspicious.

“Hi hun! This is Erik. He’s going to be a grad student in my lab from now on.” Her father turned and smiled at her, indicating the young man standing next to him. “Erik this is my daughter, Tamika. Also a brilliant mind.”

Erik grinned his same arrogant smirk down at Tamika. This time attempted to ignore the dimples and concentrated on what simmered just beyond that surface layer of charm. “We’ve met. I'm now the TA for her quantum mechanics class, actually.”

“Oh yes! I completely forgot you were taking that class.” Her father looked cheerfully at Tamika, who forced a half smile on her face in return.

"This was what I was trying to tell you on campus."  A twinkle sparkled in Erik's dark brown eyes as though he placed it there himself.  Gawd! He was handsome. She could feel her pulse racing in response to his flirting and Tamika had the barely controlled urge to smack herself out it. 

Instead, she disregarded him completely and looked past Erik to her father.  “Dad… about that item you’ve been working on for me… is it almost ready?”

“Yes, yes.” Her father replied in his usual chipper voice.  He turned to Erik. "Will you excuse us for a second, Erik. There is something I need to show Tamika in the back."

"Yeah sure, sir.” Erik said, politely.  But the look in his eyes appeared anything but cooperative.  She could have sworn she saw a flash of irritation pass over his face. 

Tamika followed her father into his office in the back.  The office had a dead bolt lock which opened with a code and fingerprint. Tamika shut the door behind them and waited patiently as Dennis unlocked the safe where he kept all of his restricted research.  He wheeled out a rack which held the metal cast of a body from the feet up to the neck.

For months, he had been working on this exoskeleton which would allow her to walk again.  It interfaced with her spinal cord when she put it on and then moved her body as her brain and neural synapses commanded, but with the strength and speed of an enhanced human.  He basically turned her into Iron Man without the full body suit.   

"Is it complete?" Tamika wheeled closer.  She had tried the exoskeleton once before but there were still too many kinks.  But it was wonderful... almost addicting to be able to use her legs again.  Her large dark eyes rested hopefully upon her father's round brown face.  

She knew she had been nothing but bitter and selfish lately. As a result, Dennis Bowden had aged ten years in the last year.  His hairline was starting to gray and recede, and he had put on a lot of extra weight since the accident, eating to quell a bit of the stress.  Over the months, their relationship had continued to grow more strained as Tamika pushed him away too, but this, her ability to walk again, might turn things around.

"Tomorrow night.  We'll try it out tomorrow night." Dennis promised. 

* * *

 

The next day, Tamika woke up in her apartment to a knock on the door.  The sunlight was streaming in the large picture window, which overlooked the city below. This loft was more than most students could afford, but her father’s guilt and his blood money had been paying the bills of late.

She removed her head wrap letting her hair fall out onto her shoulders and put on her glasses before sliding into her chair and crossing the loft to open the door. 

Opening the door without releasing the security chain, she found Erik Stevens smiling down at her from the other side.  He held a drink carrier with two cups of coffee and a bag of donuts.  Tamika's first thought was that she had not had time to wash her face or put in her contacts or brush out her hair.  Then she caught herself.  It should not matter because she did not plan on opening the door anyway. And who shows up this damn early in the morning unannounced??

"How did you figure out where I lived??" Tamika demanded through the crack. She glared at him accusingly. What was up with this kid?  Was he really this much of a fan of Dennis Bowden or was he after something else? 

She prepared to slam the door back, but Erik slipped his hand in the slight opening. He was unusually strong, stopping the door with just his fingers. “Wait. I come bearing gifts. Who refuses coffee and donuts in the morning??"

Tamika hesitated again, but did not release the chain to open the door further.

"When I spoke to your father yesterday, I mentioned I lived in this building too." Erik pulled his always ready explanation out of his pocket. "He might've given me your apartment number... 'cause we're neighbors.  So I thought I'd be neighborly."

Tamika thought suspiciously 'What bank did he rob to get an apartment in this building?’ But then she considered that she might be judging Erik with the same shallow stereotypes that people often used to judge her.

She looked him over again, considering him. He had an edge to him that really did not speak wealth.  It was the kind of hardness that only formed after seeing things that should never be seen. But then again, she was only guessing, and she really knew nothing about him. His wealthy parents could be international criminals funding his living expenses too.

Finally feeling guilty enough to open the door, she snatched the bag of donuts and wheeled them over to the open kitchen. Then she sighed, "I'm never getting rid of you, am I?"

"What exactly is your problem with me?" Erik asked handing her one of the cups and taking a seat on a stool at the kitchen counter.  "I think I'ma pretty nice guy."

"I have a problem with anyone who can still walk on two legs..." Tamika paused and narrowed her eyes at him.  "And some able body pets too.”

“So basically you’re angry at the world?” Erik concluded. He raised an eyebrow and mumbled, “I get that...”

Ignoring his attempt to relate, Tamika continued, returning to her suspicious tone, “Besides, you're up to something. I know the type well.  My father always has creeps sniffing around here, hoping he'll do for them what he did for HYDRA." 

"So what? Now I'ma super villain with a grudge, looking to overtake a small resource rich country, so I can use it to take over the world?" Erik scoffed and twisted his mouth up.  

"Well that was very exact... but yeah, something like that." Tamika replied sipping her coffee. Umm.. that was good...  Was it odd that he knew just how she liked her coffee without even asking? But who couldn’t have guessed cream and sugar? Sighing, she thought maybe she really was being paranoid now.

"Look, I'm just a regular guy."  Erik slid over onto the stool closest to Tamika.  "And my ulterior motive could be a crush on my mentor's extremely smart and pretty daughter."

Tamika almost dropped the drink in her hands then. When she looked up, Erik's face was just close enough that if he leaned any closer their lips would touch in a kiss.  He smelled like a mix of soap and old spice.  It pulled at her urges.  She wanted to lean forward just a bit more... just to see how those lips felt.

Shaking the thoughts out of her head and gaining control of herself, she leaned back. "Clearly that is not the case.  I might be witty... but I’m not that pretty."

Laughing, Erik flashed his dipples and deepened his voice. "Who said you're not that pretty? They have to be blind."

 He knew he had her full attention finally.  Moving his hand to her thick hair, which framed her face with delicious dark brown curls. He tenderly intertwined his fingers among the strands.  "I think you're beautiful."

Embarrassed, Tamika pushed her glasses back up the bridge of her nose. They slid down as her nose began to sweat nervously. Her brown skin grew ruddy around the cheeks.

 She had never really considered herself, pretty. She never thought she was ugly... just not the type people stopped to admire like an Instagram model.  He’ll she didn’t even have an Instagram page.  That required friends and taking time to care about her appearance.

 Her entire life had been measured by skill.  How well she could preform in the gym.  How smart she was in the classroom.  There was no time for boys or romance. And then after the accident, she spent most of her time isolating herself. In fact, no one had mentioned how pretty she was since her mother died.  

Now here was this gorgeous and charming man, saying she was beautiful. 

"So my next question would be." Erik continued.  "Will you go on a date with me?"

 

 


	2. Erik Stevens: The Revolution Will Not Be Televised

Erik Stevens stood outside ‘the target’s’ classroom for the third week in a row, waiting for her to emerge from within the crowded hall.  

For months, since he first matriculated to MIT's graduate program, he had scoped out her daily routine and network of people, both of which had been predictable and unchanging.  But attempting to find an in was not easy since for most of the day, she literally spoke to no one, not even the students who sat next to her in class.

 He finally got his schedule changed and convinced her quantum mechanics professor to take him on as a TA. The class would be his in... they were after all the only two black americans in the entire classroom.  It would not be strange to approach her with that in common.

She was David Bowden’s only weakness. That had been made quite obvious over the years that he had been following the Bowdens.  If one wanted to manipulate him, one just had to manipulate the target. 

That is how he had been referring to her... ‘the target’, not allowing himself to even think of her as her name.  He had long ago stopped considering people to be people and instead began to view them as obstacles. Obstacles meant to be moved around, used, conquered, or taken out, as they were all ultimately just in the pathway to his goal.

Over his twenty five years, he had more than a few women before her... much older women, younger women, brilliant women, head strong women, women whose views were as radical as his own, women with no mind or personality of their own, thin women, thicker women, friends with benefits, committed relationships, side chicks, booty calls, one night stands, and situation-ships.

The amount he cared about any of these women was directly linked to her usefulness to him and his mission. And depending on how deep the relationship went... he made sure to make that abundantly clear.   He was never given the chance to know his mother, but he respected what he knew of her life.  Enough that he was always brutally honest about his intensions with the women, who he chose to deal with.

_“You know the deal, girl. You’re either down or you’re gone.”_

Whatever else was happening in his life, he never had a problem finding a woman to ride with him and his cause for however long he was willing to put up with her. And he still had a few who he could call upon if he ever returned to their cities.  But the one woman, who he had never met was a woman who he was willing to sacrifice and change for. A woman who made him rethink and doubt his plans or ideals... even for just a second.

Then he literally crashed head first into ‘the target’. And he felt something he had not felt since his father was killed when he was just a young boy. Regret.  He knew then his mission was in trouble for the very first time. Therefore he could not think of her by her name.  She had to be the target to him.  And never anything more.  

She finally appeared through the door and then she struggled to wheel herself down the ramp. Erik saw the perfect opportunity to approach as the books slid from her lap onto the ground, and he quickly moved to her side attempting to be her superman. “Here let me help you.”

Erik stooped to pick up the books, but she ignored him and leaned forward, in an attempt to reach them herself. “I don’t need help. I’m ok.”

He got to the books first, picking the texts up and handing them in her direction.  Using his most charming voice, he said, “Too late. I got there first.”

”My hero.” The young woman mumbled as she rolled her eyes. 

”Wha?” Erik was taken a back for second as he stared into the anger that clearly crossed her face.  

This was not the response he was expecting.  She seemed so fragile and innocent on paper.  So in need of saving. An easy mark to manipulate.  That was what had drawn him to her so intensely from the very first moment.  But the cold rage that was now directed at him like a surgical knife caused him to falter. And for a second he hesitated unsure how to proceed next.

But Erik was no rookie. He could dance with the best of them, and he wore his mask like a pro.  Smiling at her arrogantly, he flashed his dimples and then allowed the lust that she stirred within his loins to enter into his dark brown eyes, while his tongue slid seductively across his bottom lip.  “I’d do anything for you.”

Pinning her lips angrily in response, the target snatched the books from him before begrudgingly mumbling. “Thank you.”

Had she just completely disregarded his flirting?  She had not even bothered to flinch. Not even an embarrassed blushed. It was like a huge wall came crashing down and his advances just crashed head first into it, completely totaling his game. 

 Before he could recollect himself, she had already turned to roll away.  But Erik followed her, falling in step next to her. “You're Tamika Bowden, ain’t ya?”

Pushing her thick dark brown hair back from her face, she looked up at him and frowned suspiciously. “Who wants to know?”

He shifted his own books into his other hand and reached out to shake her hand. “Erik Stevens. I'm the TA for your last class. Late Transfer. Shoot, I was glad to see you as soon as I entered that room... so if you need anything, I'm glad to help.”

She ignored his hand and continued to roll faster. “Well that’s just great.”

“Actually… I’ma huge fan of your father. Your father's Dr Dennis Bowden ain’t he?” Undeterred, Erik continued to walk and talk by her side. He acted like his endless confidence was not affected by the target's rude attempts to curve him, but on the inside he was becoming more and more flustered by the moment. Now he was rambling. "What a talented engineer.  Top of his year here at MIT.  I've followed his career closely... to have someone so brilliant to look up to. Just... wow."

“If I answer your question, will you go away?” she snapped.  

“Woe… I’m just trying to be friendly, girl.” Erik stopped walking and held up his hand in surrender. The anger was not abaiting at all and only seemed to be growing more intense.

“Well you can stop. I don’t need anymore friends.” The target did not pause as she rounded the corner.

Damn! Erik looked around to see if anyone noticed how badly he just got his face handed back to him. But no one was paying any attention.

A large portion of Erik was angry now too. The other part of him was intrigued by the challenge.  He sneered slightly at the thought of conquering her. He had always liked a challenge. 

He knew she was headed to her father’s lab because that was where she always headed after class. 

Taking his usual shortcut, he made sure to make it to the lab building before she had a chance. He had his own key since picking Dennis Bowden as his mentor, but the door was open and the professor was standing inside. 

"Hey sir!" Erik plastered a charming smile across his face as he shifted his books again to shit Dr Bowden's hand.  "Sorry just came from Professor Stewart's class.  I was hoping you might have time to talk."

"Certainly. Why don't we head into my office..."  Dr Bowden hesitated and a small smile formed on his face as he eyes drifted to something... or someone just beyond Erik.

Erik turned to find her looking back and forth between them, her brown eyes growing even more hostile and suspicious as she took in the current situation.

“Hi hun! This is Erik. He’s going to be a grad student in my lab from now on.” Dr Bowden turned and smiled at her, indicating the young man standing next to him. “Erik this is my daughter, Tamika. Also a brilliant mind.”

Erik grinned his charming smile down at the target again. Eventually, those dimples got to every woman. “We’ve met. I'm now the TA for her quantum mechanics class, actually.”

“Oh yes! I completely forgot you are taking that class.” Dr Bowden looked cheerfully at his daughter.  She finally had a smile on her face, but Erik could not help but notice the hint of pain mixed in just behind it.

"This was what I was trying to tell you on campus."  Erik found himself feeling empathetic to that pain despite the hostility he was receiving from her in return.  It was a new and uncomfortable place to be. 

She disregarded him completely and looked past Erik to her father.  “Dad… about that item you’ve been working on for me… is it almost ready?”

“Yes, yes.” Her father replied in his usual chipper voice.  He turned to Erik. "Will you excuse us for a second, Erik. There is something I need to show Tamika in the back."

"Yeah sure, sir.” Erik replied, politely.  His mind started to work in overdrive.  Did this mean that his informant was correct? Bowden was back to doing what he did best... creating bionics? This could also mean, the rest of the information was also correct.  He was going to have to step things up. 

 


	3. First Date

Tamika wheeled herself through the doors of the Boston Museum of African American History.

She thought it was an odd place for a first date, but somehow it seemed to fit Erik perfectly. She had met a lot of very smart and talented people in her life, but none quite as intense as him. He had the ability to suck you into his world and hold you there. Any disagreement or resistance was futile.  He was going to get to you eventually.

Tamika was actually becoming concerned about herself. She was usually much more stubborn and inflexible than this. Had she met her match in this Erik Stevens? Was he really getting to her like that? Naw... She just needed to reel herself back in... Pull it back together girl. 

But the fact that she had not stopped thinking about him for the last few days, and somehow he had managed to get her out of her routine and into a dress and make up on a date, was near miraculous. It actually scared her half to death.

"Wow! Just... wow!" Erik turned his forty watt smile on her as she rolled up to him. She could feel her face reddening as his brown eyes fell upon her with apparent satisfaction. "I didn't think it was possible for you to look any more beautiful."

Holding in the urge to make her usual sarcastic and self deprecating comment, she turned her eyes away and mumbled, "Thanks."

She had promised herself that she was going to be level headed and she was going to give this a chance. She was going to give Erik a chance. "Ok. So I'm here... now what?"

"Well, when you told me you'd never been here, I knew this is exactly where we had to go." While talking, Erik led Tamika to the beginning of the exhibit. "I come here all the time to think. It keeps me on task. Reminds me of my ultimate goal."

"Which is what?" Tamika asked, curiously.

"Eh, it’s a little corny. But to make this world a better place." Erik shrugged. "In particular for those to whom the world ain't been so kind..."

"That's a very vague answer. How do you plan to do that?" 

He smiled down on her again and jokingly replied, "Maybe I'll do a little robbin' from the rich and givin' to the poor."

Tamika raised her eyebrows. His answers to her questions always seemed to raise more questions. But this game only made her more curious. "And just who do you plan to rob?"

Suddenly he took a seat on a nearby bench and said, absentmindedly, "Hey, have you ever heard of an old myth, about a country in Africa completely closed off from colonization? Rich with priceless vibranium, it's been able to maintain its purest heritage... yet flourish with technological advancements that would even amaze your father. Men 've been searching for it for centuries. But... it's so secure, no outsider has ever made it across its borders."

He looked off into the distance in deep thought. “Just imagine... and in Africa. Think of what a place like that could mean to the world? To our people?”

"That sounds like a wonderful fantasy." Tamika replied skeptically, examining the black and white picture that hung in front of them of men and women working in a cotton field. “Too bad it’s just a fantasy."

"Yea." Erik frowned and then he gave her a funny look. After a moment he stood up and moved on. "Come on let's see the exhibit."

After they finished seeing the exhibit, Erik walked with her to the apartment building. "So what do we have planned for tomorrow? I need to make sure you get outta that apartment more often."

She smiled up at him and with a little sass said, "I actually have something to do tomorrow. Thank you very much."

"Oh really?" He asked, suspiciously. "You aren’t just telling me this so you can dodge my calls and pretend like you're not home when I show up to take you out?”

"No." She laughed. "I really do have something to do. My dad volunteered my services as a mentor for a young girl visiting MIT from over seas.  Apparently he believes I need to get outta the apartment more too."

As they stopped in front of her apartment door, Erik asked curiously, "where is she from?"

"A small country in Africa called Wakanda. Have you heard of it? I tried to look it up, but there's not much information about it. Wakanda is supposed to be poor -and war torn, but I literally couldn't find a single photograph of the region.

Anyway, the girl's some kind of genius or something. She's twelve and she's already working at a grad student level. How crazy is that? I mean I'm no dummy, but I'm nowhere near that level of smart. I think I might be a bit intimidated..." Tamika stopped talking as she noted the shocked look on Erik's face. "Are you ok?"

"Umm... yeah." Distracted, he looked away from her and down the hall. "Actually... I forgot something that I needed to do for class tomorrow. I mean, I had a real good time -I don't want to cut this short... but..."

"It’s ok." Tamika said, reaching for her key and placing it into the lock on the door. She smiled up at him.  "Don’t worry about it. Go. Handle it. I understand."

Erik bent down and kissed her on the lips. She was taken aback for a second but then she relaxed into the kiss, tasting the spearmint and honey on his lips. Pulling back, he flashed his dimples at her and said, "Ummph. This day just gets better and better."

Reluctantly letting go of her hand, he turned to walk back down the hall and around the corner.


	4. Among The Stars

"Hello! I'm Shuri!" The tall thin girl's large brown eye's sparkled as she held her hand out to Tamika. She wore her hair plaited in long thin braids which were tied up on top of her head in a half bun. She was dressed much nicer than Tamika expected of a girl from a poor third world country and more like a young resident of the upper eastside of New York. But Tamika pushed the thought aside and considered that she might be stereotyping again.

She accepted the hand and shook. "Hi Shuri. I'm Tamika. I'll be showing you around the campus and helping with anything you need while you're here."

Her father moved to stand next to Shuri. A guilty look was plastered across his face, and Tamika was certain he was about disclose something that she did not want to hear. "Actually I thought she would be much more comfortable in your apartment than in one of the dorm rooms."

He indicated the two silent ghost men, who were shadowing Shuri. Tamika narrowed her eyes at the apparent bodyguards and wondered, who the heck is this girl? This was the second time in a week that she was introduced to an peculiar stranger in her father’s lab. This could not be a coincidence.

Shuri was circling Tamika now with a quizzical look on her face and her hand on her chin. "You know... I have a device that would make this contraption you call a wheelchair much more efficient."

Tamika looked down at her chair in surprise and stammered, "I... well... umm..."

"Did I overstep again?" Suddenly Shuri's expression shifted, and she gave Tamika an apprehensive and concerned look. Then knocking on the side of her head with her fist, she explained, "I’ve been told that I have a tendency overstep. My mother always says, Shuri... you don't know your boundaries. You are like a cub who thinks she is a full grown lion. And my older brother... well he just gets annoyed. But you know older brothers... can't live with them -often wish to live without them.  Anyway... I had to offer. It would make your life soooo much easier."

”Thanks.” Tamika replied laughing to herself. She liked this girl. “But my father is already working on a project which will make this chair completely unnecessary.” 

“Oh really?” Shuri turned and looked at Dennis Bowden with intense curiosity. She moved to ask him a question but the phone rang.

”Excuse me -let me get that.” Dennis moved away to the phone.

Shuri leaned over to Tamika. She had a devious look on her face. “It took me forever to convince my parents to let me come to this program by myself. Well... by myself with several bodyguards.”

Shuri was going to be a part of a two month program for gifted students at MIT. “I think my father is afraid that I might be attacked by an American rapper.”

She rolled her eyes at the ridiculous thought. Then she moved even closer and whispered so her bodyguards could not hear. “By the way... might we be able to fit in a quick NBA basketball game while you're mentoring me? I love basketball and I’ve never been to an American game. I looked up the schedule before I left Wakanda and there is a Cleveland Cavaliers versus Boston Celtics game in Boston while I’m here. What do you think? Lebron James... Kyrie Irving... huh.. huh...”

Now Shuri was wiggling her eyebrows at Tamika and elbowing her in the side. Tamika was not exactly an avid basketball fan but how could she say no when the girl clearly crossed an entire ocean just to see Lebron James dunk a ball. “I’ll try to get some tickets.”

"Yes." Shuri said under her breath making a motion with her fist. Tamika thought in the back of her mind, maybe Erik might want to go too.

Then her father’s voice caught Tamika's attention as he spoke into the phone. “That is the third robbery in the last month. Whoever these robbers are, they've taken millions of dollars worth of lab equipment. No... I’ve been lucky so far.  But the police say it looks like it could be an inside job.”

* * *

 

In the cool air and under the midnight sky, Tamika leaned over the side of the six story building as she squat on the edge of its roof.  She had overcome any fear of heights long ago, while working on the high beam which had been her specialty.  But to balance up this high was exhilarating.  She was among the stars again as her heart pounded inside her chest with raw anticipation. The way she use to feel just before a competition.     

The exoskeleton allowed her to scale walls and jump across large spaces. But it was also much more conspicuous than she had hoped, covering her entire body in a metallic hard shell, with the exception of her neck and head.  So while she was out exploring the night, she promised her father that she would keep to the roof tops to prevent from being noticed. 

Her gymnastic skills came in handy and allowed her to adapt to the equipment with natural ease. Her speed and her strength were enhanced five fold. Her agility was more cat like than human now.  And more importantly, she could walk again.  

It had been about two weeks since she tried out the newly improved bionic suit.  The power of the enhancements was starting to make her feel almost invincible as she made more and more daring decisions.  First flipping and tumbling the way that she use to in the gym, then climbing up the sides of nearby buildings so she had a better vantage point of her surroundings, and finally leaping from roof top to roof top was almost like flying.   

Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly caught sight of several moving shadows nearby one of the lab buildings. She wondered who could be wandering around campus at this time of night. Well... besides herself. Maybe the janitorial staff? 

She considered staying out of it.  Mind her business and allow the suspicious shadows to remain... just shadows. But then her father's mention of the multiple robberies around campus entered her mind, and curiosity and guilt got the best of her.  

Putting on the black head scarf that she turned into a half mask by cutting out eye holes in the front, she climbed back down the side of the building and quietly snuck to the area where she spotted the suspicious shadows.

She came upon three men dressed in all black and wearing ski masks.  They were using some sort of device to open the lock on the doors to the side of the building.  Leaning her head back against a nearby wall, she wondered if she could handle this by herself or should she turn back and call for help?  Even in this exoskeleton, would she be able to take on three grown men?

Unfortunately the decision was made for her as one of the robbers noted her shadow on the ground. "Hey we have company."

When she came out from behind the wall, all three men looked down upon her and started to laugh.  Even at her full height and in the exoskeleton, Tamika was no more than five feet four inches, and the biggest feature on her was her hair.  All three of the men were at least average height and athletically built. The loudest robber in the front stepped up and puffed, "Run away shorty."

The anger that had sat in her chest ever since she lost the use of her legs, now suddenly returned at full force, firing out of her like an atomic canon.  Without another thought, she crossed the space between them in seconds, kneeing the man in the groin and causing him to double over. Then folding her two metal hands into a large fist, she brought the fist down upon his head, knocking him out.  The other two men backed up as they watched their partner slump to the ground like a sack of rocks.  One pulled out a gun with shaky hands and pointed it at her.  "Who are you?"

The second robber said, "Man, put that away.  We got specific orders.  We ain't suppose to leave no bodies behind."

But the first robber did not listen. He continued to point the gun at her.  Not wanting to be shot, Tamika turned to run back towards the wall, but the gun went off as she moved.  The bullet hit her shoulder causing a loud ringing sound but barely blemishing the armor.  

Adrenaline flowing through her veins, she spun around and ran back towards the gunman.  She was on top of him before he had a chance to collect his thoughts.  She snatched the gun from his grasp and twisted the barrel until it doubled back on itself, before tossing it into a nearby wall.  The wall cracked and several inches of plaster fell away on impact.  Staring daggers at the two men, she warned, "run away little boys. And don't come back."

At the sight of the bent gun on the ground and the large indention in the wall, both robbers listened and took off without a word, leaving their comrade still unconscious on the ground.  Unsure what to do with the unconscious robber, Tamika left him too, climbing up the side of the building back to the roof tops.

 


	5. Tensions

By the next morning, the news that a robber was found unconscious in front of one of the research buildings spread across campus like wild fire.

According to reports, the man quote ‘appeared to be in shock', and was 'continuously mumbling about a short masked cyborg woman who had the strength of five men.’

Tamika smiled to herself as she and Shuri listened to the news report on the television while eating cereal. And she was close to giddy as she waved good bye to the young girl and her bodyguards, wheeling herself to the closet to find something extra special to wear.

However, when Erik appeared at her door an hour later, some of her giddiness faded. He had been distracted ever since their first date, and they still had not gone on a second date.  He came every morning to walk her to and from class, but then he disappeared into the lab or to some other unknown place. He told her that he was working hard on his graduate project.  But she was starting to wonder if maybe there was something else that was stealing away his attention away, because this morning, his mind seemed even further away. He was uncharacteristically quiet as they walked to class together. And his inattentiveness seemed less like drifting thoughts and more like anger and frustration.

“Did you hear the news about the robber who was caught last night?” Tamika offered, attempting to fill the silence. Though she could not tell him the entire truth, she wanted to share her triumph with him somehow.

“Yea. I heard about it.” He scowled and scoffed angrily. “Maybe if these so called superheroes spent as much time sticking their noses in the real problems of those who are truly suffering, they might actually do some good.”

A bit hurt by Erik’s reaction, Tamika said defensively. “Well maybe she just happened to stumble upon them and felt like she had to do something.”

And when had she become a superhero?

Erik looked down at her with a quizzical look on his face. “Do you know this chick or something?”

“What?? No. Of course not.” Tamika stammered and stopped rolling. “I was just suggesting that it might not have been premeditated.”

Stopping next to her, Erik looked her up and down with a slight grin on his face. “You look extra nice today. New dress?”

So he did notice. Blushing, she smiled to herself. “This old thing.”

Erik bent over and kissed her on the cheek. “Come on, Beautiful, we’re gonna be late.”

* * *

  
Another successful robbery occurred two nights later and news of it was already circulating by the morning.

Feeling guilty, Tamika wondered if she should have gone out again that night to make sure the robbers were gone. But when she called at his lab that evening, her father warned that she needed to take a rest and not push herself too quickly.

Erik was back to his normal attentive self as they walked to class. Even his dimples made an appearance as he informed her that he planned to take her out to dinner later that evening.

After class, they were met by Shuri and her bodyguards outside of the lecture hall. Shuri inspected Erik closely and said, “Awww… so this is the infamous boyfriend. You haven't quite past the test yet. But so far I approve.”

In response, Erik turned and smirked down at Tamika.  "So you've been talking about me huh? And I'm the boyfriend now?”

Tamika looked away, clearly embarrassed. "Well... I didn't actually say..."

Interrupting Tamika, Erik turned his lopsided grin on Shuri and responded, “Yea, I'm the boyfriend. You must be the little genius.”

His eyes went cold as he took in the bodyguards standing behind Shuri. “And you come with an entourage.”

“Erik this is Shuri. Shuri this is Erik.” Tamika interjected quickly before Shuri could bring up anymore embarrassingly personal information.  Then she asked, “Did you need something? Shouldn’t you be in class?”

“They ended classes early… because of that robbery last night.” Shuri informed them. As a thought formed in her head, her eyes opened wide. “Now we have an entire afternoon for you to show me around an American mall.”

Tamika raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like a plan.”

Then she looked up at Erik. “I’d ask you to come but I know your busy.  And since we’re going to the mall, I’ll probably pick out something for tonight. So you can’t see it until tonight.”

“Can’t wait.” Erik’s eyes softened as he looked down on her. “I’ll walk back to the apartment with you. I have a few things to get before I head to the lab anyway.”

While Shuri's bodyguards disappeared without a word like two ninjas, Tamika led the way across campus followed by Shuri and Erik. When they reached the gates at the edge, they were met by police barricades.

A line of students was being searched before being passed through the barricade by police. Tamika and Erik exchanged apprehensive looks as they entered the line, but Shuri continued to chat about sampling the food court at the mall, completely oblivious.

All the students were asked to open their bags and were quickly pat down before swiftly being sent through. However when Erik, Tamika and Shuri got to the front of the line, the cop motioned for them to move to the side.

“We need to question you further.”

Tamika could see Erik's body stiffen.  His locs falling into his face as he looked down on the cop in front of him. Barely contained rage burned just below the surface in his eyes but Erik only politely answered, “yes sir.”

Tamika nodded and wheeled to the side with Erik. She could not help but see the irony in the fact that she had been the one to stop the robbers’ last break in, yet she was one of the few being pulled to the side for being suspicious.

Shuri, however, did not budge. Crossing her arms over her chest, she said, “why are we being pulled to the side? While all of those students get to just walk through. We’ve done nothing to be suspicious.”

The cop looked at Shuri like he could not believe what had just come out of her mouth. “I said step out of the line.”

She pointed at Tamika. “You’ve made a mistake. Her father is Dr Dennis Bowden. He is a prominent professor on this campus...”

Shuri lifted her chin defiantly and did not move. Tamika hissed at her. “Shuri! They don’t care who my father is! Just do as he asks!”

Clearly looking unimpressed, the cop said, again. “Step out of line now, girl."

Ignoring Tamika, Shuri did not budge.  Tamika turned to Erik for help but he was watching the scene unfold with pure fascination on his face.

”I won’t move until I know what we’ve done to be questioned.”

"You need to learn some respect little girl.” The cop yanked Shuri by the arm out of the line and pushed her roughly into Tamika.

As if materializing from thin air, five of Shuri’s bodyguards came from both sides of them, positioning themselves in a line between her and the cop. Tamika looked around to see exactly where the men had come from, but it appeared like they could literally make themselves invisible.  They linked arms, vibranium batons uncloaking in their hands across their chests.

The sixth guard looked down his nose at the cop and said with disdain, “Do not touch the princess with your unclean hands.”

He flashed a piece of paper at the cop before the man could protest. The man looked shocked at first and then angry and then finally defeated. The cop mumbled, “sorry, I didn’t know.”

Exchanging words with another cop standing next to him, he said, begrudgingly, “they pass through.”

Pointing at Shuri, Erik smirked with darkening eyes at the cop, who had started to pat him down, and said, “We’re with the princess.”

The cop stopped searching him and reluctantly walked off without a word.

Then the head bodyguard, who was apparently the only one authorized to speak, turned to Shuri and asked, “Are you ok missus?”

“I’m fine, Nkem.” She replied cheerfully straightening her rumpled clothes.

Tamika frowned up at her strange mentee as the guards moved off again. “What was that? And exactly how many bodyguards do you have, Shuri??”

“My father and brother just keep sending them." Shuri shrugged innocently. "I told them it would draw too much attention. But they just don’t listen. At least they haven’t sent any of Father’s Dora Milaje.”

“Who?” Erik asked, curiously as he came up to Tamika’s side.

“Never mind.” Shuri raised her eyebrows in exasperation. “You don’t even want to know.”

 

 


	6. Wildstreak

After a quiet candlelit dinner, Erik pulled Tamika up from her wheelchair and held her tight against his body, as he swayed rhythmically to the soft music that filled the dark lounge. He danced her around the floor of a back room that he rented so they could have privacy.  

And again, she wondered how this was possible for a graduate student. But she ignored the many questions floating around in her head.  Everyone had been acting strange lately. And nothing seemed quite right.  But at least she could enjoy this -enjoy Erik.  She was determined to not let anything ruin this moment.  Between the time she spent in her exoskeleton and her time with him, she had not been this happy in a long time.  She wanted to hold on to that just a bit longer.

Instinctively, Tamika held on to Erik's neck for dear life, but she could feel that he easily supported her body with minimal effort, even using just one arm. Still she leaned into his hard body. Her head against his chest, she could feel his muscles ripple through his shirt as he held onto her waist. His heart beat steadily thump thump thumped from within but she heard it speed up just a bit as he leaned his face down to the top of her head smelling the shampoo in her hair and nuzzling her until she looked up and into his eyes. 

The tips of her toes just barely brushed the tops of his shoes as she was much shorter than him, but he pulled her higher so he could reach his face down to kiss her lips.   Pulling back only slightly from the kiss, he mumbled, "I told you I was gonna get you on the dance floor, Beautiful."

"And like a dummy, I didn't believe you..." Tamika responded before he kissed her again.  He moved his free hand down over her round rear end, feeling and squeezing its softness.  She had been daring earlier that day and bought a dress that hugged all of her curves and showed off her legs.  The move paid off because Erik had not been able to keep his hands off of her since he picked her up from her apartment. 

Leaning his face down towards her face again, he parted her lips with his tongue tenderly exploring her mouth.  She ran her fingers up and through his locs as the passion level rose. 

Then a cell phone rang, and Erik pulled back from the kiss again, looking irritated down at his pocket.  "I probably need to get that."

Tamika nodded as he lowered her back down into her wheelchair.  Erik moved away slightly and answered the phone.  "Yea."

Pause.

"Naw. Look, I told you I was busy tonight."

Pause.

He snarled. "I’ll take care of it myself. Nothing happens until I get there."

Hanging up the phone, he turned back to Tamika with an odd look on his face.  Disappointed, she frowned at him and said,  "You have to go already."

* * *

 

“Where exactly do you go at this time of night??”

Tamika nearly fell out of her chair as the sound of Shuri's voice cut through the silence of the dark apartment. That ended her attempt to sneak quietly out of the door. She turned to find Shuri sitting up in the bed with her arms folded. “Oh. I thought you were asleep.”

There was barely enough light to see Shuri's outline, but she could have sworn she just heard snoring coming from that side of the loft. Boy, she was a good actress.  

It was a few nights later and Tamika had barely seen Erik since he suddenly left their date with little explanation.  Now she began to regret not questioning him further.  What possible emergency could he have at nine o'clock at night?  And his disappearance afterwards, only made her more suspicious.  But so far, she had not had the time nor the wherewithal to pry.  She had her own secrets to keep afterall.

“How can anyone sleep in this place with you sneaking out after midnight every night?” Shuri complained. “Besides, I’m too nosey for that. So where are you going?”

“If you must know, I’ve been going to my dad’s lab to try out that device that he created for me.”

“Really?” Shuri climbed out of the bed freeing her braids from her sleeping cap and searching for a jacket to throw over her night clothes. “I’m coming with you.”

Tamika protested. “Shuri, my dad wants to keep the device low key for now. He doesn’t want to attract any unwanted attention to his lab.”

“I already know its a bionic exoskeleton which interfaces with a neuroprosthetic device that was fused in your spine right after your accident.” Shuri stated this as though anyone should be able to figure this out. Then she shrugged and looked guilty. “Sorry. I remotely hacked into his files using a self limiting virus that I placed in his lab network while we were looking for tickets for the basketball game the other day. I already warned you. I have issues maintaining boundaries.”

Tamika sighed. Shuri was too smart for both of their good. “Come on. Just make sure my dad doesn’t find out.”

Shuri nodded happily and followed Tamika out of the door.

Once they reached Dennis’s office, Shuri watched as Tamika put on the bionic suit. Then she walked around it, inspecting it closely. “This would be perfect if your father had used vibran… Well there's better material -and there could be some modifications… for efficiency's sake. But the design is very sleek. It fits your body perfectly… and its much more agile than the iron man suit -though with significantly less fire power.”

“This is supposed to be for walking, not for saving the world, Shuri.” Tamika reminded her.

“Oh really?” Shuri asked suspiciously. “So you aren’t the little cyborg woman whose been taking out the campus robbers?”

"Little cyborg woman? I wouldn't exactly describe the situation like that..." Tamika rolled her eyes.  She definitely did not want to be known as the little cyborg woman.

“I have seen several reports of a bionic vigilante over the last couple of weeks... They’re calling her Wildstreak because she moves so fast, only a streak of hair and silver has been caught in images.”

Tamika lifted her eyebrows proudly. She did not know that she had already earned an alias. And Wildstreak was a huge step up from 'little cyborg woman'. “You’re going to keep this quiet right?”

“Just as long as I can be your sidekick.”

“Who? You and your six bodyguards?” Tamika asked, skeptically. No way she was allowing Shuri to blackmail her into taking a twelve year old princess with her out on patrol -even if the girl was the smartest person who she had ever met.

Shuri scowled and starred daggers at the door, knowing her bodyguards were outside quietly waiting for her. “Just because my father and my brother are skeptical, doesn't mean I can't take care of myself. From a young girl, I was trained to fight by the Dora Milaje, themselves.”

“And if I knew who or what the Dora Milaje were... maybe I might be impressed.” Tamika retorted. “But for now, the answer is still no.”

Then suddenly a crackle of sound came over the com system that Shuri wore around her neck.

“Nkem, what's wrong?” Shuri asked into the necklace. The man cleared his voice and answered back, “You need to leave Missus. We have company.”

Tamika placed a finger over her lips signaling for Shuri to be quiet. She cracked the door a bit. “It's my father… and he’s not alone.”

Shuri peeked through the crack, taking note of Dennis Bowden as he entered the lab with three men. One was large and bald with an automatic weapon slung across his back. The second was in a bullet proof vest and had two shotguns on his hips. He was dressed in a soldier's uniform. The third man was the most worrisome, however. His long brown hair hung in long wild strands that hid his face. A portion of his body was bionic -his left arm was a thick metal prosthetic and very similar in appearance to Tamika’s exoskeleton. He looked misplaced, as though he was there -while not really being there.

Squinting her eyes at the bionic man and then looking down at Tamika’s body, she said, “I’m guessing they’re not here for an academic conference.”  
  
Tamika sighed. She knew exactly who they were. Her heart began to pound in her chest.  HYDRA. Her father’s old employers. She closed her eyes and took a long and deep breath.  These people seemed to know how to disappear and reappear at exactly the wrong time.

“We need your expertise again... to work out some unforeseen kinks with the asset.” The man in the uniform was speaking. “This is not a request Bowden. If you want to keep your current idyllic life here, you will comply.”

“I’m a bit rusty. I haven’t worked with bionics in over a decade.” Dennis lied. He reflexively looked at his office door behind which sat Tamika’s exoskeleton. Then he paused inspecting the stoic unmoving faces in front of him.

The uniformed man placed his hands behind his back, looking skeptical.  "Even rusty.  You are still the best."

”If I do this... you will leave my daughter out of it.” Dennis asked hesitantly.

”I have nothing to do with your daughter.” The man in the uniform replied making no promises.

Visibly relenting, Dennis said, “Come on. Let me take a look.”

The quiet cyborg followed Dennis towards the back and into his office. Sucking in their breaths, Shuri and Tamika exchanged looks.

“By the way…” The uniformed HYDRA agent warned. “We know Nick Fury has been keeping close tabs on you again. If he shows up here asking questions..."

Wiping beads of sweat from his forehead, Dennis turned back, exasperated. “You weren't here. I know how to keep my mouth shut. I’ve done it for thirty years, remember. And as you know, I’ve dealt with Fury before -so don’t worry.”

Making it across the lab and opening the door to his office, Dennis ushered James 'Bucky' Barnes inside. Meanwhile, Tamika climbed down the side of the building hanging onto Shuri with one arm.  Thank goodness her father's lab was in one of the older buildings where the windows still opened.  "That was close.  I didn't want to have to put my father in the middle of a fight... and who knows what that other bionic can do."

"And as your new sidekick, I'm glad you took possession of your exoskeleton." Shuri smiled up at her, forgetting they were five stories up, hanging off the side of the building.  "Because I just had a brilliant idea for a modification."


	7. Suspicious Dealings

Tamika waited impatiently outside the screen that Shuri set up to divide the rest of the loft from the area that she was now calling her 'workshop'. Several sleek pieces of equipment had been delivered to the door and Nkem, who apparently doubled as Shuri's lab assistant, was back and forth between the apartment and some unknown destination.  

Shuri confiscated Tamika's exoskeleton the night that she decided she wanted to be Wildstreak's sidekick, and was now the designated 'Tech specialist' in a hard won compromise.  Since then, she had been working steadily through the nights to complete her modifications.  She looked particularly ragged after the weekend ended and she was back to classes with the rest of her program during the day. 

Tamika passed the time studying for midterm exams and enjoying time with Erik.  He was still disappearing without a word for days at a time, but when he returned, he was always as attentive as ever.  

They explored the city together.  Erik seemed to know his way around several different circles, from the underground club scene to the intellectual and artistic collectives to the activist groups.  He opened the world to her in a way that she had never even considered.  And when she thought of the power that she now had as Wildstreak, she knew she could not just limit it to the four block radius that had been her sheltered life.

Four weeks later, Shuri emerged from her workshop and said, "Finally done with the update."

Shuri smiled at Tamika with a hollow and tired look in her large brown eyes as she moved the screen with Nkem’s help. Tamika just hoped this update was worth waiting four weeks on pins and needles without access to her exoskeleton. And she hoped that her father's device was not completely destroyed.  She already had to come up with several creative excuses for keeping the exoskeleton at her apartment temporarily.  The first being the campus robbers.  

However, once his lab was robbed a few days after HYDRA showed up, Dennis did not argue.  He seemed relieved to have the device out of his hair anyway. 

With her hand, Shuri indicated what looked like a sleekly designed wheelchair. Tamika frowned at it.  "What is this?"

"It's a new exoskeleton." Shuri stated proudly. She pointed to the original exoskeleton as Nkem removed a cloth from over it, revealing its position behind the small workbench. “I used the plans for your father’s original design and the actual exoskeleton and modified them to make a new suit.”

"But the exoskeleton is a wheelchair? Shuri this completely defeats the purpose." Tamika frowned, not understanding Shuri’s thought process.

"The suit is fitted on the chair. Here try it out,"  Shuri suggested, helping Tamika up with Nkem.  They shifted her to the new chair.

"Now just press your fingerprint on that pad on the arm.  It is personalized to you alone."  Shuri instructed.

Tamika followed the instruction and then felt something snap onto her back through the body suit that she wore with her exoskeleton. The seat of the chair responded, extending and curving around her torso and extremities, snapping in the front until she was fully fitted in the exoskeleton. Tamika looked down at herself.  "How did you manage this?"

Shuri crossed her arms over her chest proudly.  "Now stand up."

Tamika stood up out of the chair with ease.  Shuri wiggled her eyebrows at her success.  "From wheelchair hottie to sexy superhero.  Isn't it great??  Now you can move back and forth with ease.  You know... like day to night women's wear."

She hated to admit, waiting the four weeks had actually been worth it.  She had not known what she expected, but it was not this. "You've definitely outdone yourself, Shuri."

"It's thanks for being such a great hostess." Shuri smirked.  "Besides I have to live up to my title as tech specialist. And iron man has several exoskeletons. So should you.”

Tamika sat back down in the chair and in reaction to the pressure, the suit released and modifying itself back into the seat of the wheelchair.  "I should show this to my father. He’ll enjoy this.”

Her father had maintained his post in mechanical engineering and quantum mechanics at MIT for years but he truly loved bionics. He stayed away from the area after leaving HYDRA for obvious reasons, despite being recruited by several commercial labs including Stark Industries, but Tamika could tell he still loved the work.

* * *

 

As she made her way to her father's lab, she spotted Erik talking on the phone outside the physics building.  His conversation was so intense, he did not notice her as she approached.  "It has to be in that back room. He has it well sealed, we're gonna have to find another way in bruh. And it'll probably be even more secure the next time..."

Pause.

"That's an idea. Let me know."  He hung up and then turned to find Tamika behind him.  A look of annoyance crossed his face when he first saw her and then it shifted quickly to a smile, before he walked up to her and leaned over to kiss her on the lips. "Hey, Beautiful."

Tamika did not answer.  She wheeled off in the direction of her father's lab allowing him to fall in step beside her.  After a moment of awkward silence, she asked,  "Is there anything you want to tell me, Erik?"

"Nah." Erik replied vaguely.  Ignoring the entire situation, he asked, "Heading to your father's lab?"

"Yea." 

"And you have a new chair." He stopped walking as he took in the obviously updated wheelchair. "Where'd you get this from?"

"You have your secrets and I have mine."  Tamika did not pause for him.

"I don't know what you're talkin' about.  I have no secrets." Erik frowned and continued to walk, catching up to her.  "What do you wanna know?"

"I want to know where you go when you disappear.  And who you were just talking to?" Tamika asked, suspiciously.  "Whoever it is... they seem to occupy a lot of your time.  And you didn't exactly look too happy that I overheard part of that conversation."

"I told you. I'm working on my graduate project." Erik replied, irritated.  He stopped again.  This time Tamika stopped too. "I don't get it.  Even after all the time we've spent together, you still don't trust me? There ain’t another woman if that's what you're worried about."

Tamika scoffed. Another woman was the least of her worries.  Not that she thought Erik was a HYDRA agent either.  He was not the type to be controlled, which seemed to be the main characteristic that HYDRA looked for in a recruit.  But he was hiding something. "Don't treat me like an idiot. The problem isn't that I don't trust you... it's that you don't trust me."

"Well if you really believe that, maybe this ain't the situation for you." Erik looked away.  His entire body was tense with clear anger now.

Tamika felt her heart drop into her feet.  Inside her head, thoughts spilled into a confused jumble of yearning and logic, with her instincts warning her that Erik was dangerous, and the last time that she encountered dangerous, she ended up in a wheelchair.  But her heart wanting to forget everything. To tell him that she was falling for him -she was just afraid he was going to break her heart. Instead, she spat back, "Fine!", before turning to wheel off again.   

* * *

 

Speaking of danger... a few minutes later, Tamika found her father’s lab door locked. This was unusual for the middle of the day. She used the key that he gave her to access her exoskeleton to open the door, and found him inside accompanied by a bald and hard looking man, who wore an eyepatch over his left eye.  

Looking just as nervous as he did when the HYDRA agents visited, Dennis quickly made his way across the lab to Tamika, wiping beads of sweat from his forehead again.   "Sorry, Nick.  I didn’t know she was coming. This is my daughter... you remember Tamika.  Tamika this is Mr Fury."

"Fury." Tamika considered the name.  She just heard the name a few weeks ago when those HYDRA agents showed up to her father's lab. But she had heard the name, Nick Fury, before then too.  He was SHIELD not HYDRA.  Still, was there a difference?  Tamika was not so sure. 

Nick Fury was a tall man who dressed in mostly black, including a long black coat with a high collar that made him look even taller.  Tamika figured this was more for intimidation than for blending in, and it worked.  He looked at her with more suspicion than friendliness. "I remember her."

"I'm sure she knows to keep the fact that I'm here to herself."  Nick turned back to Dennis with a questioning look.

"Tamika knows discretion." Dennis replied confidently.  "She has already been fitted to the bionic exoskeleton and it is working very well."

"Oh really?" Nick looked back at Tamika curiously.  She nodded at him in confirmation.  

"Actually, that's why I came here." Tamika stated. "Shuri has made a new suit... with a couple of modifications."

Nick narrowed his eyes at Tamika. "Oh yea.  Modifications, huh?  Let's see then."

Tamika looked to her father apprehensively.  But Dennis nodded ok.  So she pressed her finger on the pad, converting the wheelchair into her exoskeleton.  Both men looked impressed as she stood up but neither commented.  They seemed to still be feeling each other out even in the midst of sharing vital information with each other.

"I'm certain they were looking for more than just your skills with a bionic arm, Bowden."  Fury turned back to Dennis, changing the subject abruptly. "Ever since Ulysses Klaue managed to get his hands on the largest cash of vibranium since Cap's shield, SHIELD has had an interest in the region. Now that I know SHIELD is compromised, that interest could prove dangerous.  It goes without saying... whoever manages to get their hands on another cashload of vibranium first, will win the weapons race. And it's no coincidence the Wakandan princess was matched to your daughter as a mentee.  The Wakandans believe you have the file.  You got curious and you opened it.”

Fury made this last sentence a statement rather than a question.  “Now they are watching you -and your old HYDRA buddies are watching them.

That file needs to stay hidden from prying eyes... in particular, anyone from your past who would contact you now."

"It's been taken care of." Dennis said firmly.  He looked at Tamika warily.  "Just as long as my daughter stays safe and her connection to this tech remains hidden as well."

"That's in all of our best interests." Fury replied.  He walked towards the door.  "Keep me up to date, Bowden."

After Fury was gone, Tamika gave her father a concerned look.  "Are you ok, Dad?"

"Yes. I'm fine." Dennis replied too quickly.  She could tell he was not nearly close to fine.  And he was beginning to pop antacids like they were candy.  

"So you're working with SHIELD now?"  She asked. "Or are you still working for HYDRA?"

"Neither."  He could tell she did not believe him, so he decided to distract her.  "How about dinner tonight?  You and me... that is if you're not busy?"

"No. I'm not busy." Tamika replied.  In fact, her calendar had just cleared completely. And dinner with her father might keep her from thinking about Erik for awhile longer. "Let's go to our favorite spot."

* * *

Their favorite place was a deli not far from the campus.  Tamika had not been back there since before her accident.

Once consuming all of her thoughts, her accident had barely crossed her mind lately. She felt like she did back then... hopeful and confident in life.  Ever since she started seeing Erik... Everything always seemed to lead back to Erik.

"Tamika... I feel like something is bothering you." Dennis said this as he sat down across from her at a small round table pushed into the corner of the small restaurant. "If it's about Fury's visit, don't worry about it.  SHIELD... HYDRA... They are not reentering our lives. I've made sure of that.  Besides, they should start concerning themselves with this new inhuman problem -between inhumans and mutants, human enhancements are the least of their worries."

"It's not that." Tamika frowned, changing the subject.  "It's... What do you know about Erik Stevens?  The graduate student in your lab."

"Erik?" Dennis looked at his daughter confused that the conversation was so off track.  "He's smart. Very focused -he spends almost as much time in my lab as I do. He seems to like you a lot..."

Tamika looked up at her father.  She did not realize that he knew about them.

"Yes, I have eyes.  I can tell when a young man has an interest in my daughter." Dennis smiled and looked at her slyly. "He doesn't talk about himself much to me, but he's one of the best grad students I've ever had.  Why?"

Tamika shrugged.  "Just wanted your opinion... that's all."

"If you’re happy, I'm happy." Dennis replied.  Then he paused.  "You are happy, aren't you?"

"Yes, I'm happy." Tamika said with a lot more confidence than she actually felt. She changed the subject again. “And what about this file Fury is talking about? How important is it? And what does it have to do with Shuri being here at MIT?”

”It’s a long story.” Dennis replied, sounding fatigued.

”We have all night.” Tamika retorted. “No more surprises, Dad.”

Dennis reluctantly nodded.

* * *

 

It was already ten o'clock by the time they left the restaurant.  They stayed and watched the baseball game together like they use to when she was a child, and then her father walked her back to her apartment.

"I'm really happy, we got to spend time together, Tamika." Dennis said before he gave his shirt pocket a strange look.  He stopped walking suddenly and pulled out his cell phone.

"What's wrong?" Tamika asked with some alarm.

"The silent alarm was just set off in my office," Dennis replied absentmindedly.

Tamika frowned.  "You installed an alarm?"

"Yes. Fury advised it... After my lab was broken into a few weeks ago." Dennis continued.  Well that made sense.  She had not entered his office for weeks, since her suit was at her apartment. "I need to go check on it."

"I'm coming with you." Tamika stated sharply.

Dennis gave her an odd look.  "No.  I'm sure it's nothing."

Tamika was not so sure about that.  "With all of the campus robberies, I'd rather be safe than sorry.  I'm coming with you."

Tamika checked in on Shuri before following her father back to his lab. She grabbed hold of his hand and motioned for him to stay put. "I'll go in first and make sure it is clear."

She stood up out of the wheelchair slipping on her mask and then quietly making her way through the lab.  The place looked completely undisturbed and the door to the hall was still locked.  She put in the code to the combination lock on her father's office door and then place her fingerprint on the pad to bypass the deadbolt above. Opening the door, she looked inside of the office.  One of the shatter proof windows on the opposite side of the office was broken and opened wide enough for a man to slip inside.  And the entire room was in disarray, as though thoroughly searched.  

Seeing no one inside currently, she stepped through the door and began to look for what was taken.  But something felt off. Like she was not completely alone.

She looked up suddenly. That is when the intruder dropped from the ceiling on top of her.  

 

 

 

 

 


	8. The Intruder

Tamika's enhanced reflexes were all that kept her from being taken down by the intruder, as soon as he dropped from the ceiling.  Just barely avoiding being slammed into the ground, she slid to the other side of the room on her knees, spinning to a stop before gathering her bearings.  Then she crouched down and sprung back at him.

But the intruder was as quick as her. He dodged and struck a backhanded fist into the back of her head.  She was knocked forward and into the wall.  She dizzily watched the floor shift up towards her, as she stumbled off of her feet.  Groaning, she rolled over onto her back just in time to see another fist coming down at her face.  She rolled away again and then tucked her body into a forward roll onto her haunches. She kicked out her right leg behind her and into his ankles, taking the intruder by surprise and knocking him off of his feet.  But he caught himself, easily rolling onto his knees and then back up into a defensive stance.

Still dizzy, she got up slower than usual to take her own stance.  She had no formal training, but she mimicked him, hoping strength and speed alone would be enough.  If nothing else, maybe she could use her acrobatic skills to escape his attacks until he tired out.  

The intruder was over six feet tall and much larger than her.  He wore a black ski mask like all of the other robbers, but he was clearly much smarter, quicker, and very well trained.  He had already pulled two short metal staffs from the harness on his back and was slamming them into her exoskeleton from all angles.  Which only proved that he was also incredibly strong for a man without noticeable bionic enhancements. His blows were forcing her backwards into the wall again.  The metal of her exoskeleton clanged, ringing with each blow.  And though the armor was not taking any damage, her body was still absorbing some of the force of the blows from inside the shell.  

He went for her head again, but this time she was prepared.  She blocked the blow and then slammed her metal fist into his chest, sending him flying into the opposite wall with such force that the wall moaned and cracked.  Incredibly, he shook off the impact almost immediately.  Standing up, he stretched his muscular body through the pain, and then spat out the blood in his mouth.  He finally spoke.  "Do you even know what you're protecting?"

His voice was distorted and exaggerated by some sort of voice enhancer but his anger was still apparent.  He paused for an answer, but when she did not answer back, he scoffed and answered for her, "You don't, do you?"

"Just a do-girl like all the rest..."  

As he snarled at her from underneath his mask, she used the distraction to take him off guard.  In a forward flip, springing off of her hands, she landed on the intruder's shoulders so she straddled his neck.  Then she squeezed with the strength of her thighs.  She should have been able to snap his neck with her legs, but he barely seemed fazed.  He ran forward, slamming her down onto the desk causing the wood to split and then collapse underneath them. She released him as her head took another blow. 

He also appeared off kilter as he backed away, dropping a zip drive that he had hidden within his armored vest and grabbing his neck reflexively as soon as she let go.  She moved to grab the drive, but again, the intruder recovered quickly, striking one of his metal rods down at her head.  She spun away from the blow and rolled up to her feet.  He tossed the second metal rod at her with deadly accuracy.  And she just barely dodged it, as it flew past her head and lodged into the wall behind her. ZING!

Meanwhile, the masked man dove for the zip drive.  Confiscating it again, he swung himself out of the open window and began to agilely climb down the side of the building.  He used the window ledges as well as a trail of stakes that he apparently used to climb up the building. Tamika followed him down using his equipment to keep her momentum, but the intruder was too far ahead and just as fast as her down the wall.  Impatient, she let go of the wall and dropped the final two stories to catch up to him.

But as soon as she reached the bottom, he was attacking her again with kicks to her arms and her chest.  He had some sort of metal in his shoe which produced enough force to push her back.  She was able to block some of his kicks, but again his training outdid her strength and speed.  She gasped, "Who are you??  And what do you want with that zip drive??"

The intruder stopped abruptly as soon as she spoke.  Standing up, he tilted his head slightly, as though considering her for a second.  Not giving him an inch, she sprung at him, once again attempting to take him by surprise with her speed.  But he anticipated the move and pivoted behind her, wrapping his arm around her neck. He squeezed her tight against his body until she started to see stars.  She grasped his arm with her bionic hands and began to pry it from around her neck.  She could feel the bones in his forearm begin to crack under the pressure of her grip, but he did not flinch.  He whispered into her ear, "You're out of your league.  Just leave it alone before you get hurt." Then he released her, turning to take off down an alleyway.  She dropped to her knees, exhausted.

* * *

Two years prior...

Tamika opened her eyes to blurred forms surrounding her.  The anesthetic and opiates were still wearing off, but she was aware there were others in the room, standing around her hospital bed.

What had happened to her?  The last thing she remembered was walking to her car from the gym. Now she felt nauseous and painful... and her legs felt like lead weights.  She could not even feel her legs... at all.  She began to panic as she attempted to recall the events of the last week through the haze of the drugs.  Then reality set in.  And she remembered her accident and that her legs no longer functioned.  She only began to calm slightly as she focused on her father's voice coming from above her.  "What are you doing here, Fury??"

Another deep voice responded.  "We've been watching you ever since you left SHIELD.  You should be use to this by now, Bowden."

Pause.

Fury's voice was lower.  "But it wasn't actually SHIELD that you left, was it?  It was HYDRA. And now they've come back to recruit your daughter."

At the sound of the name, HYDRA, Tamika's heart reflexively began to race even faster.  She just recently discovered the details of her father's sordid past.  She always knew he was hiding something, but Dennis had done a good job keeping his previous identity from her and her mother.  That is... until Tamika's accident.  After that, it seemed like more people knew about Dennis's time with HYDRA and then did not.

Soon after it was announced that she would be attending the olympic trials and was a top contender for the team, two HYDRA agents, who had been posing for years as a student counselor at her high school and an assistant coach at her gym, approached her.  They disclosed all of her father's secrets, providing pictures and documents.  And then, they advised her that they would only continue to allow her father to live in peace, if she agreed to let them use her skill set. After she refused several times, they called in a man named, Wolfgang von Strucker, to intimidate her. A week later, she found herself paralyzed in a hit and run meant for Dennis. 

She remembered very little about her accident.  It was all still in bits and pieces. Being pulled out of the burning car. The shape of a faceless man crouched above her, his hands gently removing the blood and dust from her face.  The weight of his body covering her as the car exploded. Then she lost consciousness.

Now Tamika passed out in her hospital bed, surrendering to the drugs again.  But Dennis Bowden stood over her protectively, eyeing Nick Fury nervously.  "She refused to work for HYDRA. That's how she ended up like this... It should have been me, if she hadn’t taken my place that night... what else could you possibly want from us?!"

 "The one, who did this, will come after you and her again.  But I think we can find a way to work together against our mutual enemy."  Fury placed his hands behind his back.  "I’ve read Tamika’s medical records. Your daughter now has a neuroprosthetic in her back which will allow her to regain most of her bowel and bladder function as well as some sensation in her hips and pelvic region, but it won’t touch anything below.

I think I can help with that... I have the plans for some tech that with your expertise could allow your daughter to walk again -perhaps even protect herself from any future attacks.  But in exchange I need you to do something for me."

"And that would be?"

"I'm looking for shelters to store vital information -old and perhaps forgotten information... but information that if it fell into the wrong hands could be dangerous.  An ex-HYDRA agent is likely the last place HYDRA will look, should they ever attempt to track down this file."  Nick Fury raised an eyebrow.  "All I need you to do is to keep it hidden.  And... I need to know everything you know about this new HYDRA." 

* * *

 

 

"We're going to have to modify the inside of the armor for better shock absorption." Shuri stated after Tamika pulled herself out of her body suit and slipped into some shorts and a t-shirt later that night. There were multiple bruises over her neck, her back, her chest and her arms and legs. “And you need a better mask... perhaps one that distorts your voice?”

Pulling a cream out of her bag, Shuri showed it to Tamika. "This will help for now.  My father uses it."

"Maybe I really am out of my league." Tamika stated, ignoring the pain from her injuries.  "I mean HYDRA, SHIELD, the Avengers... they're all very powerful and highly trained.  Even that local burglar just made me look like a complete amateur."

"You said he appeared highly trained too." Shuri replied. "Besides, I doubt he was just an ordinary local burglar.  It sounds like he was after the same thing HYDRA and SHIELD are after."

"Which would be what?  Because they all seem to have a strange interest in Wakanda." Tamika frowned at Shuri.  "What am I missing?  Your country is an extremely hot commodity for being such a small discreet nation."

"I'm not really sure." Shuri answered vaguely before looking over at Nkem, suspiciously.

Tamika raised an eyebrow. "My father says its because vibranium has been found inside your borders, and your people always seem to show up any place where even rumors of vibranium start to circulate.  You showed up here like clockwork.  This pattern is making other nations, who would kill to get their hands on the metal... more than suspicious." 

"And how would your father know about this pattern?" Nkem asked, speaking for the first time since Tamika met him, without being spoken to first. 

"He use to work for HYDRA.  Now he apparently works for Fury." Tamika mumbled sarcastically.  "He says Fury approached him after my accident, giving him plans for the exoskeleton in exchange for information on HYDRA and his help keeping certain information hidden.  The intruder stole a zip drive... perhaps thinking it was the file that my father has hidden."

"So the zip drive was just a decoy?" Shuri asked with a bit too much excitement to her voice. "What is on the real file?"

"I don't know. It's encrypted and only high level SHIELD agents can bypass the encryption.  My father's tried to open it several times.”

Tamika hesitated a moment. Then she continued, “But he has figured out it contains information about how SHIELD obtained the vibranium in Captain America's shield, and information gathered from Ulysses Klaue after he was temporarily captured over a decade ago.  My father thinks it may even have the key to finding Klaue's current location which is why Fury hid it. He has plans to use it to bargain for Wakanda's help later."

"But I think you already know what was on the file." Tamika stated narrowing her eyes at Shuri.  "You hacked into my father's network trying to find it, and instead you found my exoskeleton."   

"Where is it now?" Nkem asked abruptly, ignoring the accusation.

"My father destroyed the real file after he realized, opening it was attracting too much attention.  Every time the file opens, it sends out a coded signal through the net.  Coding that your country apparently recognized as compromised information -which can only mean, Wakanda has worked with SHIELD in the past.  Fury counted on this relationship occurring again. But my father had no plans on handing the file back to SHIELD... compromised or not." Tamika stated.  But both Wakandans looked skeptical.  "If you don't believe me, you can continue to search, but you won't find anything."  

Now Nkem raised an eyebrow.  "I hate to say this, but I think we need to cut this trip short and return to Wakanda as soon as possible, missus."

"Wait." Tamika replied before Shuri could protest.  "I didn't mean to scare you guys off."  

Nkem raised a hand, impatiently. "From all that you've said, these break-ins are targeting the information about Wakanda that we came to retrieve.  Regardless of who it is, they are obviously highly trained and determined. How long before they attempt to use the princess to get what they want?  Under the orders of the king, the Hatut zeraze came to find the file, read what's in it, and destroy it... it's already been destroyed.  Our job here is done.  We must report back."

"Fury thinks HYDRA showed up because you're here... to watch your movements. They don't even know what is in the file.  And the break ins are likely completely separate." Tamika replied deep in thought.  For some reason, she felt a urgent need to convince her new friends to stay.  "They've mostly taken expensive equipment. It's likely just local burglars trying to make money."

"Or... all of the other burglaries were meant to cover up the intensions of this last burglary."  Nkem stated.  "Why else would the only highly trained member of the team wait until now to show up?"

Anxiously, Shuri looked back and forth between Tamika and Nkem.  Then reluctantly, she sighed,  "Nkem is probably right." 

* * *

 

Tamika entered the elevator to ride up to her floor.  With Shuri gone, her apartment was quiet and empty.  The Wakandans left soon after.  Disappearing as abruptly as they appeared.  But not before Shuri upgraded the padding in Tamika's exoskeleton and created a new mask with a voice enhancer.  Her one last task as tech specialist.  

And left to herself, Tamika no longer looked forward to returning home alone. What use to feel like a safe zone, now just felt like a heavy weight.

Busying herself, she buried her thoughts in school again and spent her nights out patrolling the city.  Even with the new padding, her body was still incredibly sore from the fight with the intruder, but with the exception of the fading bruises on her neck, her skin healed quickly with the help of Shuri's cream.

As the elevator doors were about to close, a hand appeared prying the doors back open.  Her heart fluttered in her chest as she was flooded by the sensation of deja vu.  But it was not the intruder.  It was Erik.  He looked at her hesitantly before entering the elevator to stand next to her. "Hey."

"Hey." Tamika responded, avoiding his eyes.  She had not talked to him in over a week.  Every time he attempted to speak to her, she found an excuse to break off quickly. Even in class, she avoided acknowledging him. Which proved difficult since he had begun to call on her even when her hand was not raised.  But now they stood alone in silence as the door closed again.  She was trapped... at least until they reached Erik's floor.  Abruptly, he broke the silence and asked,  "You ok?"

Confused why he was looking at her like she had some sort of terminal disease, Tamika frowned at him and then snapped. "I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be fine?"

She felt his hand move to her neck, gently touching the spot where the bruises were still visible. She winced, swatting his hand away.  Defensively, she explained, "If you must know, I'm trying a new therapy.  For my legs."

When she looked back up at him, he still had a concerned look on his face, clearly not believing her lie.  She narrowed her eyes at him fiercely and then turned away again.

"So you're still mad at me then." Erik said, the elevator stopped at his floor, but instead of getting off, he wedged his body between to prevent the doors from closing again.

"And you're still hiding something.  So I guess we're even."  Tamika retorted.

Erik indicated her bruises again.  "We're all hiding something."

Tamika took note of a bandage around his right wrist as his sleeve slipped up a bit.  She ignored him and asked, "What happened to your arm?"

Looking down at his arm, he uncovered it and yanked off the bandage quickly. "Nothing, I just sprained it working out this morning."

She narrowed her eyes at him.  It was his right arm.  The same arm that she pried from around her neck, that night she came across the intruder.  She knew she injured the intruder, maybe even fractured his arm.  Was this just another coincidence?  But though he wore a bandage, Erik was now waving the arm around, like the injury was absolutely nothing.  Still... it had been a week and the intruder was able to recover and continue through pain with ease.

"So again.  We’re at a stalemate. Neither of us is willing to share the truth.” Hurt, Tamika looked away and waited for him to remove himself from the door so she could continue up to her apartment.

Erik did not budge.  "Come to my apartment."

"What? Why?" Tamika looked back at him, surprised. 

"If you want to know my truth, come with me."

 


	9. Kiss It Better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: Lemon included in the middle of this chapter ;-)

“So this is your apartment?” Tamika asked. The loft was almost empty, save a small table, a bed, two shelves stuffed full of books, and the appliances in the kitchen. The bed was unmade with clothes piled at the bottom and the table was covered in a disarray of textbooks, a laptop, and notebook paper. Tamika’s first thought as she entered Erik’s place was not of the mess, but relief to see signs that he really did live there. She half expected this to be another lie. The tension in her shoulders slowly relaxed.

”It ain’t much, but it’s home for now.” Erik replied with an excessive amount of pride in a place so simple. He moved to quickly straighten up and Tamika felt her guard fall just a bit more.

Tamika wheeled herself closer to the shelves and examined the books. Half were books on strategy, strategic thinking, books of war and military strategy, and on several forms of martial arts. The other half were about various African cultures and histories. Yes. This was definitely Erik’s apartment. She smiled slightly. “Well it’s nice.”

Through the whirlwind of their romance, she managed to ignore how very little she knew about Erik. This was the first time she was even inside of his apartment.  And he wondered why she did not trust him?

He told her that he graduated from Annapolis a few years before he came to MIT, but he completely glossed over the years in between. He discussed in detail about his plans to join the navy SEALs after graduate school, but changed the subject whenever she asked him why. And he divulged absolutely nothing else about his past. Where was he before college? Who were his people? He continued to deflect all of her questions.

And what about that intruder who she caught breaking into her father’s lab? He was clearly looking for something specific. Like the file on Wakanda... or maybe information about her bionic suit. Besides her father and Nick Fury, the only ones who knew about her exoskeleton were Shuri and Nkem.  Nkem would never stray that far from Shuri’s side, and Shuri was surely not a six-foot man who could hold his own against Tamika's enhancements. And what if the intruder was Erik? Did he know she was Wildstreak after seeing the bruises around her neck? He was neither surprised nor hostile.  He just seemed concerned with repairing things between them.

"So now that I'm here.  Are you going to tell me what you've been hiding?" Tamika wheeled herself back towards Erik and crossed her arms over her chest, still not giving him an inch.

“Shit this again? You’re in my apartment... everything I own is in here. You see anything shady?” Erik replied, defensively, "I know this game, Tamika. We’ve played it before. You’re just tryna push me away again.”

“Game? Push you away? Really?” Disappointed in his answer, Tamika rolled her eyes and then wheeled back towards the door to open it. “This was a waste of time. I don’t even know who you are. I know nothing about your past.  You've barely shared anything about your current life. And when you do, you act like you’re doing me a favor. You disappear for days at time and when we're together, you get cryptic calls from some unknown person.  Tell me. How is it possible to push away a complete stranger?"

Erik did not answer, so Tamika answered for him. "So I think you were right.  This isn’t the situation for me, and I should just go.”

Erik moved across the room before she had a chance to wheel herself out of the door. She looked up into his face, as he stood over her and pushed the door closed again. His intense dark brown eyes bore into her with that same hot fire that always cooled and burned just beyond the surface, but now it appeared to be mirroring actual raw pain. In juxtaposition, the rest of his face relaxed into a softened expression as their eyes met and he relented. “The truth is I got no one. My momz died right after I was born and my pops was murdered when I was eleven. I spent the rest of my childhood in and outta the foster care system. Sometimes I lived on the streets… I’ve done a lot things –things to survive. You don't get attached when you live like that.  But you gotta be sharp... both in the streets and in the classroom if you wanna get out. I was able to keep my grades up and I kept my focus. I made it into Annapolis -but it wasn't just about college. Annapolis was a way I could escape the hell of my prior life. Anyway... you know the rest.”

As Erik looked away, Tamika thought she saw a hint of embarrassment cross his face following that single moment of vulnerability. Then he shrugged nonchalantly, hardness entering his voice now. “It ain't that deep a story. And I survived 'cause I stayed focused on the future… on my goal."

"That’s the reason why I don't talk about my past. I don't look back. Ever.  I don’t trust the present. And I keep my eyes on my future. Always.” He said this with fierce passion using his hands to emphasis the point.  

Tamika looked down at her hands which sat folded in her lap. Though it did not bypass her that Erik continued to leave several large holes in his story, she felt guilty for pushing him to talk about something that was so obviously painful for him. She looked up at him again. “I’m sorry. I guess I just don’t trust very easily either –not after what happened to me… Erik, I shouldn’t have pushed.”

"I get it. You and me... in a lot of ways we think alike. That’s why I always wanna be around you. I shoulda trusted you more -told you more."  Squatting down next to her, he looked at her slyly, sincerity filling his eyes now. “But now that I have... Can we focus on the future?  I was hoping together.”

 “I want you to know that you can trust me, Beautiful.” Erik continued, as he leaned forward so their foreheads touched. “No matter what happens out in the world, don’t worry, I got you.”

Quietly, she nodded back at him. Her instincts screamed that he was still hiding too much -that he still had not told her where he went or who called him away. But her heart wanted to trust him... the way he felt against her… and the way he was looking at her in that moment. So when he leaned in further so their noses pressed together, kissing her tenderly on the lips, she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him even closer.

He wrapped his arms around her waist sliding her towards him until she was almost out of the chair and leaned completely against his hard body. Then he deepened the kiss, parting her lips with his tongue. He scooped her up as if she weighed close to nothing, carrying her across the room towards his bed.

He lay her down on the sheets, unbuttoning her shirt as he traced kisses along her throat and then across her collar bone. Removing her shirt and her bra in one smooth motion, he moved to her chest, cupping her round breasts in his palms, while toying with her nipples with his tongue until they were hard and stood erect. Then he flipped her onto her stomach and she heard him walk away.

Tamika attempted to look over her shoulder for him, calling softly, “Erik?”

Without a word, he returned seconds later with his shirt gone, the lights dimmed, and muscles rippling as he lifted her hair from the nape of her neck. She felt his kisses against the back of her neck again, and she shivered in response to his tongue as it ran down her spine to the top of her jeans, exploring her lower back.  He traced his fingers over the port where the exoskeleton interfaced with her prosthetic.  "What is this?"

"I'm still trying to get my legs back." Tamika answered vaguely. Erik leaned forward and kissed her back again.  "This ain’t painful?"

"If there is pain... I've never noticed."

"That's my baby.  Always the toughest one in the room." His hands felt through the material of the jeans to her round buttocks, taking possession of her hips.  He leaned forward and lay against her back, whispering into her ear.  "But tonight your body’s all mine.  And I'm gonna make you beg for mercy."  

She giggled as he slipped his tongue over her ear and down side of her neck.

Then he flipped her over again and unzipped her pants, removing everything so only her panties remained. Snapping the elastic of her panty line, he smirked, “pink lace, I like.”

Tamika smiled as he leaned over to kiss her lips.  She ran her hands down his pectoral muscles to the ridged pack of muscles etched into his torso, accepting his tongue as it rolled inside of her mouth.  He backed away and she inspected the raised tattoos that her fingers felt across his chest.  There were several of them, possibly fifty or sixty.  Pock like marks in straight rows, decorating his skin. They were definitely purposeful, made by some sort of tool.  She narrowed her eyes and asked, "What are those?"

Erik looked down, absentmindedly running his own fingers across the markings.  "I earned them... I'll tell you more about it... later...."

He moved forward again, snuggling his nose into the side of her neck.  She giggled as he kissed his way down her body to the inside of her thighs. Her giggle became nervous, as he spread her legs open to access her more sensitive parts. But her nervousness only egged him on. He looked up at her with his intense eyes, hungrily licking his lips as he moved his mouth between her thighs. Huskily he commanded, “Tell me when you feel it.”

Moving her panties out of the way, he dug his tongue into her, tasting every bit of her and then teasing her clitoris. Tamika felt the waves of pleasure begin slowly in response to each stroke of his tongue. It did not take long for her back to arch up in response to the expertise of his mouth. But unable to move her legs, she was at the mercy of his tongue, and he played her body like an instrument, uncovering and pressing each of her buttons until her moans made a rhythmic and harmonious sound.

Applying more pressure, he hungrily explored deeper until she was slick and wet and calling for him to satisfy her through the spasms of pleasure. Then he was on top of her and inside of her. She held onto him as he moved his hips against her. He pulled her up with one arm so he was seated on the edge of the bed with her straddling him. Then he moved her hips with his hands so she rode him while their kisses deepened. She could taste herself all over his mouth as their tongues intertwined, sweet and tangy. Standing up, he carried her across the room, thrusting even deeper as he pressed her back against the wall.

She could have sworn she heard herself calling out his name, but her thoughts were in such a jumbled mess, she could not focus on anything but what he was doing to her body.

He moved to the table next, laying her on her back and spreading her legs further apart to enter even deeper. She arched her back into him, pressing her pelvis down to meet his hips, as his moved his fingers across her hardened nipples and then up between her lips.

He began to groan as she sucked on his finger, letting her tongue roll around it and his hips moved faster and thrusting deeper inside of her. He hunched down into her as his own passion drove him to the edge. And she wrapped her arms tight around his neck while he buried his face into thick curls of her hair, groaning and moaning their orgasms out together.

Breathing heavily, they lay across the table with their bodies intwined together.  Tamika was unsure if she would ever catch her breath again. But soon Erik stirred, and still inside of her, he stood up and hungrily looked down at her naked body laid out before him.  He ran his hands across her flat abdomen and grabbed hold of her hips again. She could tell he was not close to finished with her yet.

* * *

  
The next morning, Tamika woke up inside of Erik’s arms, snuggling back against him as he wrapped himself tighter around her waist and whispered in her ear. “Morning.”

She smiled, “Good morning.”

Turning inside his embrace so she faced him, she placed her hands on the side of his face as he kissed her on the lips. The scruffle of his mustache and beard tickled  her cheek and her neck as he moved his kisses to her throat, tasting her milk chocolate skin like this was his breakfast and all he needed to start his day.

"I'll be finished with my graduate project, and have my degree by this summer.  Then I plan to head to the recruiters and enlist as an officer."  Erik paused for a second looking into Tamika’s eyes as though searching for something. She frowned at him, causing him to look away.

"What are you doing this summer?" Erik asked suddenly.  "Come with me."

"I would... but I can't.” Tamika replied apologetically.  “I've already accepted an internship this summer...  remember I told you about it. In New York with Dr Susan Storm at the Baxter Building. I have an interest in genetic engineering... her collaborative work with Dr Helen Cho is some of the most innovative, ya know." 

Erik pulled back from her even further.  She could see his body visibly tense up. He was not angry but he was not happy either. "This is about science... and nothing else?”

“What do you mean?”  She actually had a pretty good idea what he meant. It was no secret that the Baxter Building housed the headquarters of the fantastic four. Four mutated humans with extraordinary powers.  This was also a huge factor in her decision to take the internship.  But she avoided Erik’s eyes as he turned back to question her. He definitely knew her secret. “Of course it’s about science.”

He did not press her further. “So we're both leaving the city then."

Quickly Tamika closed the space created between them by laying her head on his chest. "We'll write and call... we'll make it work, won't we?"

"Yea, Beautiful.  Of course." Erik's voice did not sound reassuring at all.  But Tamika only pulled herself tighter to him, hanging onto his words. “What is it that you’re looking for in the navy anyway?”

Erik’s prior revelations did not exactly match up with joining to fight for one’s country out of patriotic duty.

”There’s a man, I need to have a word with. Apparently this is the only way to get to him.”

”So this is all about one man?” Tamika asked. That made no sense. Not that much of what Erik did ever made complete sense to her. “Who is he?”

”Let’s just say... he partnered up with my father once, before my father was murdered.”

Tamika chose not to dig any further as she felt Erik’s fingers run over the port on her back. If this was about his father, she understood.  Her own father’s suspicious dealings ran through her mind. What was he going to tell Fury when he came looking for his file?

She should stay out of it. Dennis told her to stay out of it. But how could she stay out of it when her father’s safety was involved? She badly wanted to discuss her dilemma with Erik, but she could tell he already had enough on his mind. Besides, there was still the question of the intruder.


	10. Still a Stalemate

It turned out, Tamika had no reason to worry. News of Colonel Nicholas Fury’s death spread like wildfire a few weeks later.

She could not tell how her father felt about the news since he avoided answering anymore of her questions. Oddly, he seemed more nervous than ever, though Fury and the file were gone. Also, the robbers suddenly disappeared without a trace, calming the tensions around the campus.

Meanwhile, Erik stopped disappearing for days and receiving mysterious phone calls. They practically moved in together, spending most nights in either one or the other apartment. He showered her with so much attention and affection that she found herself becoming lost in him, and everyday it became harder and harder to keep her alter ego and her nightly activities from him.

So when she caught him watching her with what she could have sworn was a look of guilt, she chalked it up to paranoia. Struggling against her own guilt, though it was apparent that he was still hiding things from her too.

Her favorite time of day now was the quiet of the night after they finished making love, and they lay in bed together, their naked bodies entangled as they talked about everything from the issues with Erik’s graduate project to politics, music, old movies, and who was inevitably going to die next on 'The Walking Dead'.

Or when he read to her from one of the hundred of books that he horded in his apartment. Candles lit. Him in his boxer briefs and her dressed only in one of his shirts. Safe in his arms, she saw it in his eyes and she felt the words forming on her tongue. “I love you.” But the secrets between them held both of them back. 

Sometimes, Erik would mention his father. He would speak of his old life in Oakland before his father died and then suddenly clam up as though just realizing he said too much. It was apparent that he was not as over his past as he claimed to be. She had never seen Erik become outright angry. Usually it remained controlled just beneath the surface, almost like an eerie calm before a storm. But when he spoke about his father and his father’s death, anger was the only word that fit the description.

 There was nothing in what he said that told Tamika anymore about the man who he claimed to be searching for. But she could tell Erik had never spoken to anyone about the things he told her. And even when his rage bubbled up spilling into rants about his father’s murder, she wanted to hang on to those moments of realness. It made her feel even closer to him than when he spent the entire night enjoying being inside of her. 

And after he came so close to telling her everything the night before, she would wake up the next morning to find him quietly watching her sleep. He gave her an odd look as though deciding on something, before kissing her 'good morning' as was their routine.

At night when he had to leave to lead a study group or to put in extra work in the lab, she would take out her exoskeleton and escape into the night. She still wandered the city, but in other parts of town, where she thought she might actually offer more help, Erik's words constantly ringing in her ears.

But then one night while she made her way through the city, she felt herself being watched and followed. She had this feeling before, but tonight it was much stronger.  

Her tail was not taking the time nor making the effort to remain covert. She could see his shadow among the other shadows in the alley way, close enough to hear him moving behind her.

When she turned to warn him that she knew he was there, he came out from the darkness, as though purposefully revealing himself to her. 

It was the intruder.  He moved into the moonlight. He was wearing the same black body suit, armored vest, and pants, with the ski mask over his face and the metal staffs crisscrossed on his back. 

She backed up a bit as he walked up to her with clear intention. She had an odd sensation of deja vu again, as if this encounter had occurred sometime before, and was hidden deep and clouded in her subconscious. A faceless man approaching her from the shadows.

The intruder stopped abruptly, noticing her hesitation and pulled off his mask. 

Erik’s locs fell from the ski mask, as he pulled it all the way off of his head. He shook his hair and looked down at her intensely, waiting for her to say something.  When she remained quiet, he offered, “Secrets on the table. You can take off your mask now too.”

Tamika stood there in shock. Since she met him, she had been compartmentalizing everything about him. It was easier to maneuver through the complicated web that made up this man. Erik, the interesting, smart, and charasmatic grad student, who was her boyfriend.  Erik, the broken soul with a lot of anger and very little trust. Erik, the thief with a shady past, who was definitely bad for her health. Though she always knew in the back of her mind that Erik was the intruder, she never thought she would actually come face to face with the third Erik. 

He moved closer to her and gently removed the mask from over her face. She did not stop him, brushing her thick hair back as it was freed to the mercy of the circulating night breeze. She did look at him defensively and demanded with clear irritation in her voice, “How long have you been following me??”

“Since I figured out you're Wildstreak... since that night you caught me in your father’s office.” Erik replied. He looked guilty again for a second, then it faded and he began to look angry.  “You know I coulda killed you that night. What the hell were you -are you thinking... haven’t you found enough trouble? Why’re you out here looking for more?”

”Well you didn’t kill me. And clearly, I can take care of myself.” Tamika retorted defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest.

“You have on a fancy armored suit. You ain’t invincible.” Erik was growing angrier after hearing her nonchalant response. “And if I hadn’t figured out who you were, you woulda followed me until I did kill you...”

”So then teach me how to fight... like you do. It’s obvious someone trained you.” Tamika dropped her attitude abruptly, striking at what she truly wanted from him.

Erik scoffed, brushing the suggestion off like it was ludicrous. “You don’t know what you’re asking. You don’t wanna be me, Beautiful.”

”Don’t patronize me.” Tamika frowned, her voice firm. “I know what I want. And there’s a huge possibility that I might have ended up killing you instead... or at least putting you in the hospital.”

“Maybe.” Erik relented. Then he slipped up and gave a masachistic half smirk. His dimples showing.  “You did manage to break my arm.”

He shook his head and looked at her skeptical. “But you woulda never won that fight. I let you go. You’re just lucky it was me.”

Tamika sighed, “even more of a reason to teach me.”

He paused and looked down at Tamika again with that same hesitant look that he had been wearing for weeks, as though deciding something. “If I teach you how to fight... then you’ll come with me. Forget about the fantastic four, forget about this small time stuff. Come with me... I’m gonna find the man who can lead me to my father’s murderers and then I plan to take... everything. You and I will use it to really change this world.”

Now Tamika looked at him skeptically.

"I've done everything else that I’ve promised you, I'd do. Haven’t I?” Erik moved even closer, leaning down and kissing her on the lips.  "Believe me now.  You wanna help the world... this is how. If you’re really gonna do this hero thing, let me watch your back.”

Taking a step back, Tamika asked, ”Is that why you stole the zip drive? To find the file on Wakanda? To find Ulysses Klaue?”

”Whatta you know about Klaue?” Erik narrowed his eyes at her, his voice growing harder. He growled, “Where’s the real file??”

”My father destroyed it.” Tamika stated bluntly. “And the only one who knew what’s actually on it was Fury. Now he’s dead.”

Erik snarled with frustration, moving away with his fists clinched.

“What are going to do when you get to Wakanda?” Tamika demanded.

”I’m gonna kill the man who killed my father.  Then I'm gonna kill anyone, he ever loved, or anyone, who ever loved him. And then... I'ma take back what’s mine.”  Erik's eyes were on fire as he spoke.

”Who exactly?”  Tamika demanded, thinking of Shuri.  This sounded more and more like just plain old revenge. “Who are you going to kill?"

”Don’t worry about it. When we finally get there, you’ll know everything.” Erik stated vaguely.

"Erik... this is... a lot." Tamika took in everything he just said.  She was not sure how much was actually real and how much was just said out of anger, but there was no doubt in her mind, he could do all of the horrible things he said he planned to do. 

“What’s mine will always be yours.” Erik said, pulling her back around so she had to look him in the eye again.

”I don’t want it. Not if it means helping with your vengeance. It's going to destroy you, Erik.” Tamika shook her head defiantly. “I’m asking you to forget about Wakanda and stay with me. Teach me to fight. Don’t leave Boston. Watch my back here.”

”I can’t do that.” Erik replied just as defiantly.

Tamika sighed again. She was not surprised by the answer, but she felt hurt and disappointed anyway. He wouldn’t give this up, not even for her? Looking away, she stated, “So we’re at another stalemate then.”

”I’m not leaving Boston until this summer.” Erik said. He reached out and brushed the hair out of Tamika’s face gently, rubbing his thumb against her cheek. “Don’t talk to me about a stalemate until then.”

Then suddenly he grabbed her and picked her up off of her feet. She submitted to him, letting him carry her back towards the alley way. “Right now. I’m taking you home.”


	11. Love Letters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Events described in these letters are taken from both the movies and the comics with some alterations and span over the next year and a half.

 

Dear Erik,

I can’t believe it’s been already been a year since you left Boston and MIT.  Everyday I think about you and pray for your early and safe return.  I know you are a lot safer than most of the men who fight beside you, but I still worry.  Being able to see you with my own eyes and touch you with my own hands, will make everything so much better.   

This time I've enclosed a copy of the photo that you took of us before you left.  Keep it over your heart until we meet again. It's as bullet proof as my exoskeleton.  

My mentor, Susan Storm, has asked me to return to Manhattan this summer. And I plan to go.  I know what you are saying while you read this, but I learned so much last year, both inside and outside of the lab.  I'll regret it, if I don't return.

Besides, I told you in the last letter that I discovered that my father is being blackmailed by a mobster/arms dealer, who calls himself, Big John Buscelli.  He wants my father to create bionically enhanced human parts for him to traffic.  I've finally located Buscelli and he's in New York City.  Susan wants me to help set up their remote lab in Belle Port, Connecticut, and then I'll return to Manhattan to finish out the summer... for the most part on my own. I'll have plenty of time to deal with the Buscelli problem in the meanwhile.

Really, everything is going far too well.  It makes me just a bit nervous... particularly with the recent announcement of the Sokovia Accords.  But with Fury gone, I think Wildstreak is low key enough that no one will really bother to notice me. Either way, I'm sure I'm worrying for no reason.  The registry won't amount to anything.

Hope this letter finds you well.  Tell me how you are, next time you write.

Tamika

* * *

Tamika

The days here are long.  I don't have time to think about much else. But reading your letters are still the best part of my week.  I keep them all locked in my locker.  I might need a bigger one soon.  

I received the photo.  I plan to keep it on me at all times.  It's my good luck charm now, Beautiful.

When we move next, I'll Skype.  I heard there is good service there, and I miss your voice and your face.  Then I can tell you how I am... face to face.

Besides, I need to see for myself that you are actually staying safe.  Though it isn't possible, I should have come stateside earlier.  I knew you were in danger after Stark unleashed Ultron, and Ultron recovered the data from your father's destroyed file. Luckily, he went after that motherfucker, Von Strucker, instead.  One less problem for me.

 But Wakanda has completely gone dark since then.  No trade, no outside online connections. No possible way to locate them without Klaue.  They've even started to call back their few outreach missions. Wakandan charity abounds.

This is only a temporary set back. We will be back together soon.  I still plan to come for you when all of this is over.  Once you see what my vision truly is, the stalemate will be over. Then I want you by my side.    

It's good to hear that your time at the Baxter Building was productive enough for another internship.  But I already knew they would ask you back (They'd be fucking stupid not to).  Just get what you can out of the experience and get out quickly. Associating yourself with the Fantastic Four will get you noticed.  

And I knew from the beginning this internship was not just about science.  I knew those mutants would get you involved in all of their so called crisises.  But just do you.   Whatever you feel is right is the right answer... you've always held your own with me.  You're stubborn and strong and smart... and difficult.  But that’s why I can’t stop thinking about you, Beautiful. 

Erik

* * *

 

Dear Erik

It seems as if I have not slipped by the notice of the new Superhuman registry.  And I refuse to be tagged just because I have a prothestic device implanted in my spine. Susan agrees with me.  We are now back in New York fighting among Captain America's anti-registry group.

The entire mess has caused another huge upheaval in my life.  After following my mentor up to Belle Port to set up that new remote lab, an enormous rift formed between Susan and her husband over the issue of the registry.  Reed... for god only knows what reason... has decided to take the side of Tony Stark.  The fight that incurred between the Richards ended up leaving Susan's brother, Johnny, in a coma.   This may be the end of the Fantastc Four.  I doubt Susan will ever forgive Reed.

Anyway, I've encountered all types during the last few weeks that this civil war has managed to destroy most of downtown New York.  Including a man called the Black Panther (he was on Stark's side so there was no room for conversation, but I did exchange blows with him for a short period of time).  I was told he is from Wakanda.  Have you heard of him?

And Von Strucker? I know that name. He worked for HYDRA.  He tried to recruit me before my accident. How do you know about him?

Be nice.  The fantastic four are not mutants in the sense that you mean.  And their enhancements were an accident, whereas yours were purposeful (I think).

I miss you so very much Erik.  I have no doubt what side you would be on in all of this.  I cannot wait to hear your voice and kiss you... even if it is only through the phone.  

Tamika.

* * *

 

Tamika

I've heard of this Black Panther. Stay away from him.  He'll only bring you more trouble.  As for Strucker. He's no one. I've unfortunately crossed paths with him before, a long time ago.

And I have no enhancements, Beautiful.  All natural.

We've probably already spoken before you read this letter, but I'm sending it anyway.  

Keep your head together.  They'll be watching you even closer now that you've taken the anti-registry side.  I'll tell you this when I speak to you by phone, but I know I need to say it again.  Lay low. Finish college and forget about the vigilante gig.  I'll be back for you soon and I don't want to find you locked down in some government facility when I get there.     

I know what you are saying while you read this. I can see that look on your face. You ain't going to listen to me, but Beautiful, I have to say it. Because... I love you.

Erik

* * *

Dear Erik

I've been tormenting myself ever since our argument two nights ago on the phone. I haven’t even been able to bring myself to open your last letter.  

I've finally figured out what those tattoos on your body mean. And why you never answering my questions about them. They are killmarks... aren't they?  And now your upper body is almost covered in them.  

I thought maybe you might change. But it’s been too easy to ignore how much you haven’t changed with you so far across the ocean and out of reach. I realize now that I was being naive. After speaking to you face to face, I see your obsession has only gotten worse.  Why are you so fixated on people, who you've never even met and a country that you've never even seen?   You would put them before everything... even me.

We’ve always disagreed with each other’s methods. You think my vigilantism is trivial while I think your ambitions are dangerous, but this is more than just about our opposing philosophies. Don’t bother to come back for me if you plan to go through with your vengeance. I don’t want anything to do with it.

I love you... but you cannot have both me and Wakanda. You have to choose. Right now. I understand either way. But if it’s not me, don’t contact me again.

Tamika

 

 

 


	12. Killmonger

Three years later…

Erik stood over Shuri, who was now weaponless, his eyes like burning golden flames within the gold and black panther mask.  "What's up, Princess?"

In the midst of the chaotic battle, Shuri almost brought Killmonger to his knees with her vibranium gauntlets.  But in the end, he was able to overpower her.  Now the sharp edge of his long dagger bit into her throat.  She could see the muscles under his panther suit bulging. He was twitching to sink the dagger a bit further, severing her windpipe and the large blood vessels that surrounded.

"I should kill you." Erik said coldly to his target but begrudgingly pulled back slightly.  "But you'll get this one chance...”

He stood up to his full height and raised his chin. “Only 'cause of her."

Warily, Shuri put her hand to her bleeding neck as the dagger moved away but still hung only a few dangerous inches from her face.

"Next time we cross pathes, don't expect the same mercy."  Releasing his mask, Erik glared down at the teenage girl, a snarl curling the side of his lips as he lorded himself over her.  "I'm not even sure this is a mercy. 'Cause I plan to kill everyone you know and love -soon you'll be the one lost, alone, and abandoned."

"What happened to you??" Shuri demanded, as she glared just as viciously back up at him. “Tamika loved you. Now you're nothing but a monster!"

"Princess, I was always a monster," Erik growled back.

T'challa appeared out of nowhere, flinging himself at Erik and knocking them over the edge into the vibranium mine. Shuri crawled to the edge of the mine and looked down into the shaft.  "T'challa?? Are you ok?!"

"Yes Shuri!" There was a pause and then she heard T'Challa yell up again.  "Turn on the trains!"

"But that will deactivate your suit!"  Shuri yelled back down.

"I know.  It will deactivate his suit too!"

* * *

 

Tamika finished her time at MIT and moved to the Bronx NY, tracking down Big John Buscelli to bring him to justice.  Still taking Erik's words to heart, she stayed there in the city, using the power of her bionic exoskeleton to help the invisible and silent population as both a high school science teacher by day and a vigilante superhero by night.

Erik never sent a reply to her last letter and she never opened his last letter.  Eventually, she stopped waiting for his reply and burned it. Then she cried herself to sleep for four weeks straight. Eventually life took over and she moved on.  A few months later, she met someone new, a man named Eric Masterson, who helped her finally bring Buscelli down. But she never completely forgot about her first love.

The next time she heard any news of him was not until years later.  Erik was spending a significant amount of time mingling with infamous blackmarket arms dealers. Duly earned by his viciousness during the war, he had a new name, Killmonger, and a new girlfriend, who ran with a gang headed by none other than, Ulysses Klaue. And so, Tamika knew he finally found the man who he had spent most of his life looking for, and eventually, he would find Wakanda.

Then one morning as she prepared for another day, a strange hover craft materialized out of the gray cloudy sky and touched down in the small yard behind her townhouse.

She went outside to see exactly what was going on and was greeted by an older and taller Shuri as she disembarked from the craft.  She was a teenager now. Dressed in her usual stylish way, but in a slightly more mature fashion than four years ago when she was still just a girl.

“Shuri?? What are you doing here? And what the hell is this??” Tamika demanded, wheeling her way across the yard to inspect the vehicle.

“It’s a hover craft.” Shuri shrugged. “We use them all the time back home.”

“In Wakanda?” Tamika asked, hesitantly. She had been hearing more and more through the enhanced person/mutant grapevine about this country called Wakanda.  In particular, about its king, the Black Panther, who ruled and protected Wakanda, and who was last spotted in the company of the Avengers.

During Stark’s and Rogers' Civil War, she had gotten close to him only once.  He was a quiet man who made huge statements with very few words.  He was also a skilled fighter and had managed to drive her off the side of a high-rise building.  But she was most fascinated by the vibranium black panther suit, which she was certain was greatly influenced by the mind of Princess Shuri.

“Yes.” Shuri answered, giving no further explanation. “I came because I have something very important to give you. My brother, T’challa, asked that I bring them to you personally... sort of.”

“T’challa…” Tamika rolled the name around in her mind, ignoring Shuri's guilty expression. “You mean the Black Panther is _**the**_ infamous older brother?? What other surprises do you have in store for me today?”

“Oh, I’m just getting started.” Shuri replied solemnly.  She went back into the hover craft and returned holding a folded pair of cargo pants, a blue long sleeved shirt and a set of upper body armor. She held them out to Tamika.

Curiously, Tamika took the pile of folded clothes. On top lay a chain with two dog tags. She looked up at Shuri and frowned. “What is this?”

“These are the possessions that he left behind…” Shuri said slowly. “After he died.”

Tamika looked back down at the tags. She lifted them and read 'Erik Stevens' imprinted at the top. Shifting slightly in her chair, she tried to decide if she heard right. “So Erik is dead?”

“Yes.” Shuri answered.  She had a mix of emotions on her face.  “He came to Wakanda to challenge T'challa for the throne.  He defeated my brother in traditional combat, and took over as king.  Killmonger -I mean Erik... planned to use Wakanda's resources to militarize oppressed people -people of color around the world. But T'challa wasn't dead. He returned and re-challenged Erik.  Only this time, T'challa struck the fatal blow.  Erik wouldn’t allow us to save his life...  But he did mention you -so I thought you should have his possessions.”

Tamika looked down at the clothes, the armor, and the chain. Her heart lurched. “There was nothing else?”

“Well...” Shuri replied reluctantly.  "There was a royal family ring... but that can’t leave Wakanda."

“What exactly did he say about me?” Tamika wondered, asking this more of herself than of Shuri.

“He said he spared my life because of you.” Shuri stated and then she pinned her lips. “I would tell you more… but…”

Wiping the tears from her eyes, Tamika only gave the teenager a half smile and did not ask anymore questions. She began to think through all of the things that Erik said to her when they were together. She knew his obsession with Wakanda would eventually kill him.  Could she have done more to stop him?  Probably not, but she would always wonder.

“Where is he now?”

“He wanted to be buried at sea.” Shuri replied.

Tamika pressed the chain and the clothes to her chest, taking in his scent, still ingrained in all of his possessions. Something fell from the pocket of the pants, floating to the ground.  She stooped to pick up the small slip of paper.  It was the photograph of them together.  The one that he took before he left Boston. There was a small smudge of blood dried at the top. 

"That was on him... when he died. It obviously meant a lot to him.” Shuri pulled out an envelope from her pocket. “And this was also among his things... it's addressed to you."

Shuru placed the rumpled letter in Tamika's hands. The envelope was worn and permanently creased as though it had been folded and stuffed in pockets multiple times.  "Read it."

Tamika looked at the picture at bit longer before opening the letter.

'Tamika,

I know you told me not to contact you again, so I don't plan to send this letter.  If it does ever reach you, that likely means I'm dead and you were right.  Stalemate over. 

You are the only person in this world who I care enough about to confess my sins.  And with all of the terrible things that I've done... the hundreds of people whose lives I've taken or destroyed, I've only allowed myself to feel guilt one time.

 I'm still not sure why I did not finish the job that day and instead pulled you from the car.  Maybe because you were not my intended target.  Maybe I really do have a heart buried somewhere deep down inside, like the guy I became for you.  But it never occurred to me that we would cross pathes again.  You were just the beautiful stranger who I chose to save from myself.  

Then I found out your father had the file that I was searching for.  I told myself that my intention was to use you to get closer to your father, but then it seemed like you were the only reason that I could not go through with my original plan. You have no idea how much of me wanted to forget about Wakanda and stay there with you in Boston forever.  But I also know who I really am and this relationship should have ended before it even started, because I am the reason why you are in that wheelchair.

I never planned to come back for you.  I always knew you would never agree to come with me.   Our relationship was never going to last.

But I could not face the look on your face when you finally learned the actual truth.  What I've really been hiding this entire time. That I took your legs from you.

I don't expect for you to ever forgive me. But you need to know that if a man like me can love, then that is what I felt for you and I’m so sorry for everything. 

Don't let this change you.  Not in the way that I've allowed my rage to turn me into this... Now it's on you to change the world, Beautiful.

Love Always

Erik'

    

End of Part One


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